Hell's Embrace
by MrHaxorus
Summary: Nothing is considered normal when a dragon's involved; but things get even more hectic when a group tries to capture it.
1. Chapter 1

This was written, literally, a couple of years ago and i have improved my writing style and quality since then. Hope you enjoy the first Hell's Embrace!

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**Chapter I: In The Beginning**

I can't believe it's been a whole year since we met. A whole year...

"Yeah, dad! It's packed properly, just leave it alone. Don't root through my bag mum!"

"What's this for?"

"Just in case. I kinda need it too."

"Lucas. You do not need a Swiss army knife if your going to go camping with Josh."

"It's got different tools on it other than a knife you know. Useful tools and that's why I need it mum."

I did this fairly regularly with Josh. At least once a month, we, camped in a tent in a wooded area together. Just to get away from life, to talk and the main reason, to meet a very special someone but little did I know, that, life was just going to come back and slap me in the face.

"Are you gonna stop complaining about what I take with me 'cause I take the same stuff with me every damn month!" My dad just stood there, looking, first at me, then the bag, then me again. He gave a slight nod to me, to which, I smiled and nodded back.

"I'll be back in four days alright? Same as usual." I said, as, the doorbell rang, "That'll be Josh."

I rushed downstairs to open the door but my brother, Adam, got there first.

"Hey Jos-!"

One problem. It wasn't him.

"WHOO?" they said in a confused voice,

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Adam screamed as he tripped over

Good job I had my stuff with me because by the looks of things, I really had to leave. I quickly shouted goodbye, and ran out the front door, slamming it shut behind me. I honestly couldn't believe what had just happened. Someone I had to keep a secret for a whole year had just waltzed up to my house and just rang the doorbell. Only me and Josh knew about her.

"God damn it Latias!"

I heard an all too familiar voice,

"Josh? Is that you?"

"No you!" Josh responded,

"Seriously Josh, i've had to put up with your YouTube references for too long."

It may have been wearing off on me, but, Latias sure still found it funny. She was in stitches on the floor.

"You've got nothing to be laughing about!" I said firmly. Latias stopped laughing and promptly turned invisible. "You know very damn well that no one can know about you. I don't do it to be mean it's just...I just don't want to see you get hurt because of it." We started walking away from the house and down path. Latias turned visible again and lay her head on my shoulder whilst looking at me with her big, amber eyes.

Josh was sniggering,

"What are you giggling about?"

"Nothing." He replied

"You're sniggering about something."

"I'm not." He said whilst trying not to laugh even louder. Latias obviously knew he was thinking of something to do with me and her and begun to scowl at him. I was starting to realise too.

"Josh. I know what you were laughing at and it's not funny. She's just a good friend. I don't...love her or anything.

"Well it brought back memories of the first term of year ten." Josh replied,

"Oh for God's sake, don't start you asshole!"

"Fe-tish" Josh whispered at me.

"Shut up Josh! I never did and I still don't have one over...them."I snapped.

"Sure you don't" Josh teased. I could tell that he would never change.

"Forget it, man. Latias I really think you should turn invisible again. I don't want people to do what my brother did."I said trying to change the subject,

"WHOOOOOO!" Latias replied with a smile on her face. She was obviously thinking about what she made Adam do.

"Anyway, I don't want to dig up old dirt, but, what made you ring the doorbell? And why didn't Josh try and stop you?"

"Hey! I did try and stop her but I accidentally let go. She was determined to see you earlier than usual."

"I can understand that but surely she knows that I don't live on my own. I don't know what my family would do. Good thing it was just Adam that saw you though because no one will believe him as only he saw her." I turned to Latias and she looked at me in a sort of shy way. As if to say 'I'm sorry'.

I looked at my watch.

"Whoa! It's already five o'clock! We left at three!" I said.

"Good job were here then!" Josh replied,

And he was right. We set up the tents, even one for Latias, which she never used as she insisted on staying with me in mine, in doing so she forced me to buy a wider tent so she could fit her wings in without damaging anything. It never took long and it took even less time to set everything up inside. We were in the same spot we went to every month. Away from everything and everyone. Somewhere that we could just mess around and have fun with Latias. A place where no one could find her or us.

Things changed...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Arriving Uninvited**

Josh was sitting in his tent messing around with a torch we brought with us; I was sitting in front of the campfire, doing what's stereotypical, toasting marshmallows. Latias regularly poked her head out of **MY** tent, doing what I can only gather as, whinging at me to do something. I could tell that she was directing it at me and not at Josh's epileptic torch because she kept making a loud, shrill at me and every time I turned around to look she had, what can only be described as, the cutest angry face ever.

"Latias. Why don't you stop shrieking at me and have a roasted marshmallow?"

"WHOOOO!" Latias replied with that same face,

"Well whatever it is you're gonna have to wait. Sure you don't want a mallow?"

"WHOO!" Latias simply 'said' whilst pulling her head back into the tent.

"You might not want to leave her waiting Lucas." Josh said,

"What's that supposed to mean?" I replied in suspicion,

"You know, she might want you for more than you realise."

At that moment I could hear Latias talking to herself in a dark tone. No doubt over what Josh said.

"Josh. You honestly push the boundaries sometimes. You're not just irritating me anymore with this lark going on. One day your gonna wake up to Latias with an urge to kill."

I heard Latias again. Seemed like she agreed with my remark.

"Yeah well one day you might wake up to Latias ON you."

"SHUT THE HELL UP JOSH!" I shouted back

Josh burst out laughing while Latias screamed and burst out the tent, raging in anger. She looked as though she was about to rip Josh limb from limb. I had to jump off the chair I was on and grab hold of her wing.

"Latias! Don't! He's irritated me for the last year and a half with this and he still is but please. Please don't do anything stupid!"

Latias stopped where she was and looked at me. I could see in her eyes that she wanted to get revenge on Josh for what he had said. "This isn't normal of her." I thought to myself, "She used to be nothing but a ball of fur and happiness, but now whenever Josh makes a remark about me or her, she seems to be so...protective." Latias knew that I was mulling over this fact and she seemed to loosen up slightly, but not by much.

Suddenly something broke our stare,

There were crackling footsteps coming from the path just behind where we set up camp.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap! No one ever comes here! Errrrrrm...Latias your gonna have to kill him some other time. You have to turn invisible. NOW!"

Latias growled in the direction of Josh, shook herself out of my grip and promptly turned invisible.

The footsteps grew ever closer until we could finally see a group of about five men emerge from the darkness of the trees. They looked incredibly suspicious, if not more due to them being here so late at night but then again so were we.

They wore black and grey combats with badges embroidered onto them. The lettering was impossible to make out in this light.

"Josh get out here now! We've got company."

"They're not Pokémon eggs are they?"

"Wha...? No you ass a group of guys."

"HEY! YOU!" Shouted one of the men

I instantly snapped round to look at him as Josh was stepping out of his tent's entrance.

"Come here! Both of you!" He commanded

"Who are you? Can we see any ID?" Josh asked,

"What the hell Josh? These aren't the sort of people to have any 'ID'" I hissed at Josh,

"Were known as SPAS. That's all you need to know" The man replied,

"Spas?" Josh replied in stitches, "Isn't that from MW2?" I said,

"Nerd." Josh whispered back

I simply turned to Josh and looked at him to remind him of his nine day play time over my three days.

The guy that called us over gave a loud cough to bring our attention back to him.

We turned back to face him,

"Now that I've got your attention again, we would like to know if you've seen anything remotely like this before." He said as he pulled out a small, crumpled photo and handed it to us.

Josh and I looked over the photo and we saw what appeared to be a red and white draconic like figure in some trees.

"Latias!" I thought to myself,

"You look like you've got something on your mind young man!" the man said to me,

"No, no just trying to remember if I've seen anything like this. But I really don't think I have." I responded,

"Well, if you see anything like this from now, give us a call." He replied, handing me what appeared to be a small business card.

The group of men slowly dissipated back into the woods without another word.

I slowly turned to Josh, still looking at the card given to me. I broke my gaze and looked up at Josh with an emotionless face.

"They know about Latias." I mumbled,

"We've got to do something 'cause she obviously ain't being careful about her visibility." Josh replied.

"Speaking of which where is she?" I said. "We can't call her because, they, might hear." I whispered,

"There has to be some way of getting her to respond. You're the nerd on her, surely you know something." Josh continued,

"For once I agree with you. Hang on. She's a psychic type right?" I asked,

"Yeah but what does that have to do with get..."

"She's telepathic!" I cut in,

We spent about ten minutes attempting a, sort of, telepathic connection to her but we had absolutely no response from her. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her. She meant the world to me, however, it was slightly more than either of us realised.

This was the moment we had to do something. The moment I had to do something, the thing was we never knew where she was. For all we knew she could have been found by someone. Someone that **wanted** to find her. We couldn't let that happen. Josh and I doused the fire, packed up our things and went out to find her. We had to find her no matter what...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: This wasn't planned...**

"Got everything Josh?" I asked, in a panic,

"Yeah, yeah, just stop worrying!" Josh replied in a blunt tone, "I'm sure she's absolutely fine."

"Yeah that's easy for you to say aint it?" I snapped back,

"Lucas. Seriously calm down. I understand how important she is to you. It's sorta obvious how you feel about her. Kinda like how you knew that me 'n' Hetty would be together." Josh, calmly, said back to me.

I simply stood on the spot. Not quite knowing what to say to him. He would usually tease me about such a thing but, this time, he seemed very serious. I was taken aback by his remark and frowned whilst looking at the ground. I then looked back up at him expecting him to be smiling to himself but, instead, he still had the same straight face. I knew he meant what he had said.

"Come on Josh. We have to find her." I said whilst pushing Josh's comment to the back of my mind. "She might need us and I won't let anything happen to her." I replied, suddenly realising, that I had just refuelled the fire of his comment, which suddenly brought it back to mind. I fought back the tears which attempted to break free when I thought of anything happening to her.

We followed the trail until we could see the clearing. We heard something behind us crack. Out of sheer reflex, I snapped my head towards the direction the noise came from. I looked at Josh, who was looking at his foot. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, but just to be on the safe side, I, begun to rummage around in my backpack for the torch. I heard a fair bit more cracking whilst I did this but didn't turn round as I thought it was just Josh walking behind me. I stood up, turned on the torch and turned to face Josh. He wasn't there. I instantly freaked out but, strangely enough, never screamed. I franticly looked around for him, in case he was pulling a prank on me, which at this point in time would not be appreciated.

"J-Josh?..." I quietly uttered, still stricken with fear.

I began to shakily, edge closer to the exit and then... the cracking which seemingly got closer to me suddenly stopped. I froze in position, even though my conscious was screaming at me to continue on. I stood, trying to sense any kind of sound as best as I could. It was still so silent I could hear a faint ringing sound, as though a phone was being called. I straightened up and turned around. The last thing I saw was a blunt object exit the darkness and strike me. That's when I fell to the ground, with a muffled thud, and drifted slowly into unconsciousness.

Slowly, I was coming to. My eyelids felt heavy but managed to open them slightly. My sight was like my eyes had been glazed over whilst unconscious. I shut them again briefly and then it hit me. The sudden pain surged through my head, forcing me to remember the incident in the forest and me suddenly being hit. I attempted to rub the wound with my hand, but something was preventing me from doing so, forcing myself to reopen my eyes I turned my head to the left. Josh was next to me and appeared to be in a similar state I was in. We were both tied to small, plain wooden chairs with our hands bound together, as were our feet. By the looks of things Josh hadn't been injured but was either still out cold or taking a nap at the most inconvenient time. My guess was the latter.

"Ha ha ha! I see our little friend is awake!" boomed a man's voice out of nowhere,

I sat bolt upright as I heard this. Josh obviously wasn't sleeping.

"We've got a few things to ask. It's about something precious to you." He continued,

I slouched again as I thought about the word he used. Precious.

"It appears, undeniably, apparent that you and your friend know something, and as I always say, there shall be no secrets!"

My brain clicked. What, or more to the point who, did I find very precious to me? The only thing I truly cared about at any given moment? And who the hell was this bellowing at me?

As I reminisced this thought the wall itself appeared to open up. A tall, dark haired man stepped in through the gap. He wore a dark blue, two-piece suit with a white shirt and a purple tie. He carried a gray briefcase which was handcuffed to his wrist. He seemed to keep a firm grip upon its handle. He walked closer to me, crouched down and stared at me with his brown, glass like eyes, almost as if he was looking straight into me. After a few seconds he stood back up and snapped his fingers to which two men walked in, carrying a small desk and an office chair. The two men looked familiar. As though I had seen them before. They left quite quickly so I couldn't get a good look at them, although my attention was concentrated on the tall man with beady eyes.

"Let's get started then." He said as he sat down at the desk and pulled out a metal prism like shape with two words engraved onto it and placed it on the desk. "Read it." He ordered.

"Mr. Black." I slowly replied.

"Good we've now established you have an education. That is also who you will refer to me as."

Established I have an education? Who does he think he is...apart from the guy who has me and Josh tied to chairs in an unknown place possibly surrounded by heavily armed guards. I decided to keep my head down however and answer straight to the point.

"What's your name?" Mr. Black questioned,

If I was comfortable answering the question that is,

"What is your name?" He asked again,

I still never answered,

"You are trying my patience." He continued, in a gruff voice.

"Good, we've now established you are indeed human." I spat back.

"Hmm. Let's change the question. What do you know about a red and white dragon known as a Latias?" He said, seemingly unperturbed by my remark,

"Nothing, other than it's a fictional character from a Japanese video game." I said with worry,

Two things had now clicked whilst I was in this situation. This is the second. This must be the boss of those guys that asked us about Latias in the forest. They must have thought we knew more than we'd told them. They were right.

"I beg to differ." Mr. Black replied.

He opened a drawer on the desk and pulled out a remote control of some sort and walked back up to me. He pressed a button on it which must have activated something behind me because I could a low humming sound as if something was opening.

"Take a look!" He suddenly boomed again as he placed his foot on the piece chair which was visible between my legs and pushed, hard, knocking me and the chair backwards. I could see what opened no except it was all upside down, but that never stopped me realising what it was I was looking at. There she was, in a large metal contraption, like the angel trap from saw, and was surrounded by scientists in white overalls. The glass must have been soundproof because she looked like she was crying out for help. Extremely understandable.

"You bastard!" I shouted as I looked down the chair at the man,

"So you do know something. Also what a colourful vocabulary you have there. I believe I've misunderstood you." He said as though ignoring what I just called him.

"What have you done to her?" I shouted back, with all disregard to the consequences.

"Aha! I see you're feeling protective over her. A sure sign of deep friendship." He responded with a smirk.

I held back my anger. Any more outbursts and who knows what he would do to any of us. The only thing I could do was lie there and bite my tongue.

"No use in staying quiet. I'll get what I want from you knowing that you know more than you say. That is very apparent." He said nothing more but merely snapped his finger once more. The same two guys we saw earlier re entered the room, closed the window, dragged me and Josh out the room and down a dark corridor. Josh was literally only just coming out of his coma.

"Where are we?" He asked as he opened his eyes,

"Shut up!" The man that was dragging us shouted,

"Someone's touchy." Josh whispered,

"Your gonna get us killed Josh!" I hissed back,

"I said shut up!" The man shouted again,

As we were being taken to, what I guessed to be a prison cell, I noticed several things. First of which was a lab. No doubt where Latias was being held or tested upon. I shook away the thought. Next was a kitchen which probably contained even worse food than what was at the hotel my brother once stayed at in Gran Canaria. Then there was a room marked storage, which was the place that was most likely to have our bags, and lastly and armoury which, by the sounds of things, was where they stored weaponry and the likes. A bit stupid if you ask me because it's the closest room to the prisoner's cells. The last thing you want is a prisoner with a desert eagle right? Dwelling on the rooms we had just passed I hadn't noticed that we were already in our cell and being untied.

"Stay here. Then again I don't think you have a choice!" Laughed the guard whom had so lovingly carried us to our new home.

I noticed that the gate that kept us from 'out there' seemed to lock electronically. Could be useful.

"What now genius?" Josh asked,

"Well it's not like it's my fault!" I replied, with a hint of irritation,

"Sure it is! You just had to get pally with your dragon sex symbol!" Josh continued, not quite knowing what he was brewing,

"What did you just say?" I snapped back,

"You heard me! If you didn't get friendly with her, then we wouldn't be here!" Josh said without any regard,

"So whose fault is it then? Mine or hers 'cause your obviously not part of why we're here!" I said whilst raising my voice out of sheer anger.

"Too damn right! I only now her personally through you! Not my fault but I still managed to get into trouble because of you!" Josh responded,

"Some things can't be helped you know! Like us two meeting and then meeting her! It's a little thing called fate and you nor me nor Latias can control what it does." I said in a kind of cryptic way.

Josh began to understand what I was saying, and I was also starting to realise that any given situation can make two good friends argue uncontrollably until someone slaps some sense into them.

"Josh. We shouldn't argue. The situation we're in is bad enough without us trying to kill each other." I continued,

"Don't remind me." Josh replied as he slumped, glumly, onto the cold stone floor."

"We just need to figure out a way to get out of here." I proposed,

"Yeah? I think that's the first thing that came to mind as we were thrown in here."

"Why'd you 'volunteer' me to do this? I hate fieldwork!"

"Quit your whinin' and hand me the bolt cutters! Aaaand...there. That should give them a hand!"

"It better cause that guard dog nearly had my ass back there!"

"Shut up! Let's get out of here before they catch us!"

"There must be something small we can use to jiggle about the lock mechanisms." Josh suggested,

"Can't. It locks electronically only key card or electrical..." I said, stopping part way through.

Suddenly all the power went out in the corridor and I heard the cell gate unlock.

"Surge..." I said finishing my previous sentence, "Hurry! Before it shuts again!" I barked.

Both of us heaved the heavy iron door open and darted through the small gap we made. The door must have swung shut again because we heard it re-lock. Must have been a separate backup generator because dimly lit bulbs began to flash on coating us in a dingy orange colour. Me and Josh began jogging down the corridor until I stopped because I remembered something.

"Josh! Wait up!" I called,

He skidded to a halt and turned back.

"What is it?" He asked quizzically cocking his brow at me,

I said nothing but pointed at a door. It was marked 'Armoury'.

My eyes began to light up at the sheer thought of what was in there. The door was bound to be locked though right? Wrong. It was ajar slightly, must have swung open when the power went out. Either that or someone was in there. No matter what however, I simply HAD to look at what was in there! I gently nudged the door open with my palm to find what I, myself, call a treasure trove. I love my weapons you see but you'll see just how much.

"Jesus Christ! This is AWESOME!" I said in disbelief at what I saw, "They've got everything they need for a god damn war! M4's, ACR's, Cheytac's! Bloody hell they've even got boxes of attachments in different camos!"

"And you know all those because of Call of Duty..." Josh sighed,

"Yeah well at least I can remember how you reload each and every single weapon here!" We can use them to escape!" I responded with a smile,

"WHAT! Are you kidding me? Call of Duty is a video game! If you die you respawn! In real life you don't you crazy idiot!" Josh snapped at me out of sheer disbelief over what he had just heard escape my lips,

"I'm aware of that Josh. But for once, a video game, has indeed come in handy. We don't even try to use these to escape they'll just recapture us or kill us. We use these, we have a chance, slim, but it's a fighting chance." I boldly said as I eyed an Intervention with ACOG.

Josh knew I was right.

"Let's get outta here!" Josh said whilst grabbing an ACR with Holographic.

I grabbed a bandolier sash and handed one to Josh, giving him extra ammo as I did. I showed him how to reload his gun when it was out of ammo and when there was still some left in, well as best as I could from what I could remember. We cocked our guns and readied up. Were coming to save you Latias. Anything they've done to you they'll regret deeply. It was time to show these bastards who they SHOULDN'T have messed with.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: It's Time...**

I grabbed eight flashbang's, and handed four of them to Josh, "Use these only when needed. Like you said, were not gonna find any scavenger packs out here!" I said with a nervous smile. Josh took them and clipped them to his sash to which I did the same. We both slinked out of the Armoury and continued to jog back down the corridor towards the storage room. It was open, just as the armoury was, so we cautiously entered and looked for our bags.

The cheeky buggers. I found mine inside one of the metal bins. Josh found his wedged between a how to for dummies book and a stack of, what looked like, videos. God knows what was on them.

We left the cluttered space and continued towards the disease ridden kitchen.

I skidded to a halt.

"I think I just heard something. Kinda like a shuffling noise." I whispered cautiously,

"Let's not hang around to find out if your right!" Josh replied, with a firm grip on his ACR.

Too late. That Mr. Black was sneaky. We were in the same corridor we were dragged down earlier but I missed something. Another wall opening. The slat like door screeched open revealing a dark pathway. The lights went out for a second time. Josh and I slid behind some crates on either side of the corridor.

"Damn! They've cut the power!" I cussed, "Stay sharp and concentrate! This isn't gonna be easy!" I continued,

Some guards wearing some sort of protection swarmed out the doorway like angry bees. They were carrying automatic weapons with small, bright flashlights on the undersides of them.

They knew we were here.

"They couldn't have gone far! Search for them and when you find them, no mercy!" One of them barked to the others.

They split up and jogged down the corridor then turned off at different intersections. Two of them went right past me and Josh. I held my breath and tracked them with my eyes as they passed. I kept a steady finger on my guns trigger in case things got hairy. Luckily they never noticed and continued onwards.

"Come on. We've got to keep moving or we're done for!" I said to Josh, "Be careful too. Any sign of hostility before we rescue Latias and either we're dead or she is!" I reminded him,

"Well let's stop chin waggin' and save her! I can't sit here all day." Josh mused,

We got up and pressed onwards to the Laboratory where Latias was being held. I stood on one side of the door and Josh, on the other. We could hear voices from inside, mostly of which was a guards' voice. Something along the lines of 'Don't let them brats in here' and 'shoot on sight'. If that's what's going to happen then I'm glad we brought the guns.

"Shush! I think he's going to come out!" Josh whispered,

"Screw that! Get ready to shock!" I smirked back,

The lab door, surprisingly had, a normal handle. None of them fancy key-card activated doors. Thinking back to that book I saw in the store room, it must have been on, how to run an evil organisation for dummies. By the looks of things, they skipped a few chapters. Or the whole thing entirely.

"Stay focused! I've always wanted to say and do this!" I said with a smile, "BREACHING, BREACHING!" I said whilst stepping back and violently giving the door a kick, snapping it right off the hinges.

Honest to God the people in that room must have thought 'WHAT THE HELL...' as they looked at us with the biggest surprised face you could imagine. They soon noticed that we were armed well and they reached for their own weapons. We reacted pretty quickly to this and I dropped to a crouching position, aimed down the interventions scope and aimed towards the first guards' hand. Josh lunged forward and struck the other guard between his eyes with the ACR's butt, knocking him clean on the floor. Fortunately he fell unconscious. Josh grabbed his gun, removed its magazine and tossed it aside. I was a little preoccupied myself to care what the scientists were doing. The guard whom was still standing seized his UMP and aimed for me. I'm not quite sure what happened afterwards except for the fact that there was a bright flash and a thud.

"Ohhhhh God..." I said,

"Holy crap! What did you do?" Josh asked, entirely removing his concentration from the guard he hit,

"I don't... I don't know..." I replied not wholly understanding what I just did.

I must have reacted to him pointing at me and unknowingly squeezed the trigger putting him down for good.

"Wow. Errm...well...you've got good reactions..." Josh stuttered,

"Ha... I guess." I murmured back,

I couldn't help but stand a stare at the life I had just taken with my own hands. This was unlike anything I've felt before. I began to feel cramp in my stomach as my brain took in what I had just done. Then I thought to myself, 'what would have happened if I never shot him?' Quite simply, he would have killed me first. I came to remember that I promised myself to defend Latias using any means necessary and make these bastards pay.

"Come on. We've got to get Latias outta here!" I said completely ignoring the two limp bodies in front of me,

I reloaded my Cheytac and kept the old magazine as a spare. We pushed onward into the bowels of the lab.

"Whew! I never realised it would be so big in here..." I panted at Josh,

Suddenly I recollected something. The two scientists earlier. They'd fled further into the lab. I ignored the thought, thinking it only as 'unimportant'.

After a short while we neared the end of, what was, an empty working space and came to another locked door, this time it needed a key card. It was marked 'Testing Labs'.

"Alright. They probably know that were trying to get in here so stay on your toes and take them down!" I said with anger in my voice,

"Lucas I know it's probably the situation we're in but you're acting pretty violent all of a sudden." Josh said to me cautiously,

"Why shouldn't I be? She's been taken from my arms and..." I stopped half way through my sentence. "I don't care what you think now. You know what's going on. I love her and as you've probably figured out, I would do anything for her. Even kill." I snapped,

"I don't know what to say to that..." Josh hesitated

"Just follow my lead." I barked back.

I never realised at the time, but, I was starting to act like a real asshole, even in our given situation.

"We need a key card." Josh suggested,

"Well done Captain Obvious!" I replied,

Josh had the most disdained face when I said this.

"I'll just kick it in like the last one." I continued,

"It's probably fortified since it's the testing lab." Josh replied,

I took this into consideration and remembered the fact that I was quite good with electronics.

"Hang on a minute." I said nudging Josh out the way.

The thing was we never had time to be hotwiring doors. I lifted my Intervention up and brought it down quickly upon the key card scanner smashing it clean off the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Josh shouted over what I just accomplished,

"Shut up! We can't let them hear us!" I snapped,

"As if they never heard you break off a part of the door..." Josh grumbled back,

I simply stared at him with what I like to call 'angry eyes'.

The door happily unlocked itself for us. How kind. Like Josh said however, it's not like they would never have heard me.

"GO, GO, GO!" I ordered,

I kicked the door open as hard as I could and went straight to a crouching position again whilst Josh ran forward and slid behind a filing cabinet. I expected to hear either shocked outbursts, or worse, gun outbursts.

"Where are they?" I asked myself, "Hang on..." I whispered,

Nothing was in here. Absolutely nothing. I felt my eye twitch as realised Latias wasn't here either.

Josh stood up and walked over to the contraption that she was being held in.

"It's a note." Josh said simply,

I was still trying to think about how they could have possibly escaped the room without running into us again.

"There must be some sort of secret exit or something." I proposed,

"What?" Josh asked,

"They've taken her and got away, somehow, without us knowing." I continued,

"Well read this then." Josh said whilst thrusting the note under my nose,

I gave a few coughs and started to read the note,

"Dear pesky plumbers..."

"Lucas out of everyone, you're, the person I get the least. You were going absolutely mental earlier about trying to save Latias and now you're making Hotel Mario comments when this could give a clue to where she is."

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I need a bit of a laugh at the minute." I laughed, "Anyway." I said whilst straightening the note, "To the two convicts looking for Latias. You're too late. We've escaped with her and gone to our headquarters leaving you with nothing but the bitter taste of defeat and some armed guards. Hope you enjoy dying. Signed, Simon Hathaway. (Head researcher)" I said whilst furrowing my brow at their sheer tenacity to get right under my skin. "Those arseholes! They sure know how to piss a guy off!" I said through my teeth, "This whole friggin' charade feels like Mario what with the note and all. My princess really is in another castle ain't she?" I shouted.

Josh sniggered at my choice of wording. I began to smile slightly at the thought of me being Mario and her being taken to a big castle. Forcing myself back to the then and there I shook away the idea, folded up the note and placed it in my trouser pocket.

"We can't give up. Not now. Not when she needs us. If your gonna quit I'm still dragging you along for the ride whether you like it or not!" I said as I turned to face Josh.

"Don't worry. I've got your back." Josh replied re-cocking his ACR,

"Armoured guards or not, these, bastards WILL pay! Let's go!" I ordered whilst jerking my head in the direction of the door.

We both jogged back out the door and continued until we got to the first door we broke into.

"What do we do now then?" Josh quizzed,

"We kill whoever gets in our way for what they've done and then we get our own asses out of this hell hole." I replied with a calm face despite what I was saying,

"Sounds like a plan. One question though. What do you think of this place...other than it's a secret organizations building of course." Josh asked,

"Well, I think this place looks more like hell than the one we just left." I replied with a smile this time,

"You and that Modern Warfare..." Josh said under his breath.

Ignoring what he said I, grabbed his sleeve and, yanked him down a narrow corridor which split off the main one. The lights seemingly got dimmer and dimmer as we continued until we finally hit darkness once again.

"These guys seem more like moles than humans!" I jested,

"Stop! I hear someone coming." Josh whispered as he grabbed me and pulled me back,

"Quick behind here!" I hissed back as I returned the favour and pulled him behind, what I think was, a barrel.

I glanced over the top to have a look if Josh was right. He was, yet again. I could see the same bright lights we saw earlier as the guards went out searching for us. Curse him and his... rightness.

"Where are they? They can't have escaped! It's too complex for them to even think about escaping here!" One of the guards said to his squad mate.

Complex? It's about as complex as a finished Rubik's cube if you ask me. The only thing that confuses me is why is it so bloody dark in here?

"THUD!"

"What was that?" One of the guards asked pointing his gun in the direction of the sound,

They saw one thing and it made them smile. Joshes foot.

"Screw this!" I shouted, "Tossing flashbang!" I said whilst laughing hysterically to myself,

They fell to the floor and rolled around clutching their eyes because of the bright flash that just burned itself into their corneas.

I got up and walked up to one of the guards. I stood right above his head and then aimed the barrel of my intervention at it.

"You messed with the wrong kid." I growled. With that I squeezed the trigger, regretting nothing. "Clean up the rest, help me search their bodies and then leave them be. Let them know we mean business." I instructed.

I could hear a few whines coming from the ones who were still alive, well, for now.

Ten minutes later...

"Got any key card from them?" I asked,

"Just one. It's marked garage." Josh replied,

"Perfect..." I said, with a smile. "Take their torches. We could use them." I continued.

With that, we carried on going down the corridor, leaving, the hall of bodies behind us. I was cautiously pointing my new, torch, lit Cheytac at various walls looking for any sort of directional sign.

"Bingo!" I exclaimed, "Here we go, our ticket outta here!" I laughed as I shone my torch straight at the garage door.

I grabbed the key card off my bandolier sash and placed it in front of the card reader. We heard the satisfying click of the locks unhooking themselves and retreating back into the frame. The door slid open and we both, cautiously, stepped inside. No one was there either. I looked around and found a light switch. Just another badly placed item in this building of organisational mess-ups. The lights slowly flickered on to reveal, what can only be called, a hangar of some sort filled with all sorts of vehicles. It ranges from Harrier jets to armoured Stryker vehicles. Out of everything though, I loved the sight of the ATV. I casually sauntered over to it, completely oblivious to everything else. I loved all of them, but with no way or knowledge of how to drive or fly them, I knew I wanted that quad bike.

"We're so gonna take this!" I laughed whilst rubbing my hands together,

"How exactly? There's no chance we're gonna find the key's for it!" Josh replied,

"No need." I said, "Not with my 'electrical skill'." I sniggered.

I had a rough idea on how to hotwire a vehicle. Not something people should know but I just 'happened' to pick it up from somewhere. I yanked off the wiring cover and grabbed a bit of leather and metal I found on the floor. I cut the red and blue wires and stripped off some of the plastic coating. I then wrapped the leather around my fingers and tied the red and blue wires insides together. There was a slight roar from the ATV's engine. Bliss. I replaced the cover, at on the seat and patted the passengers one.

"Hop on! We've got a dragon to save!" I grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: We Gotta Go...**

Josh hopped onto the seat and grabbed the passengers handle whilst keeping a firm grip on his ACR. I gave the quad a little bit of a rev just to get the feel for it then slowly pulled off. I chicaned between the other vehicles as I tried to keep as quiet as possible until we came to the end of the hangar and met a great wall of steel. I hopped off the ATV and jabbed the button next to the metal monstrosity then got back on. The doorway slowly squealed open as if it hadn't been oiled in years, which was odd as the building looked fairly new to me.

"Halt!"

Josh snapped his head back towards the hanger entrance. Heavily armoured guards carrying M21 EBRs and RPDs came running towards us firing from the hip.

"OPEN YOU STUPID DOOR!" I yelled in panic,

A sniper bullet pinged of the rear of the ATV smashing an indicator. Josh opened fire on our unwelcome guests. Shame it wasn't accurate.

The door was still squeaking open.

"FOR GODS SAKE OPEN!" I screamed,

Josh released a magazine and inserted new one to continue firing. They were so close now. They were about 15 metres away and they were determined to kill us on the spot. Bullet holes peppered the door, the floor as well as various parts of the back of our quad.

"YES!" The door opened just enough for our escape! I rammed the throttle back and we scraped through the gap in the doorway.

"You're not getting away that easily." Said a guard whom we never noticed,

He had heaved a thermal scoped Cheytac onto a Harrier wing and set up the bipod. He aimed down the grey scope and aimed as we shot into the darkness. He sighted Josh as a white hot being and squeezed the trigger resulting in an ear-splitting bang.

I turned the bike sharply to the right but the bullet still got one of us. I shouted in agony as a searing pain coursed through my right arm. I ignore the pain as best as possible because any sign of slowing down would end up in us getting slaughtered by their increasing arsenal.

"Lucas! Are you alright?" Josh shouted above the roar of the engine,

"That sniper got me on the arm!" I replied through my teeth,

"Hold her steady man! We need to rescue them in one piece not in a pile of metal"

"I'm doing my best sir! It's not easy when you're being shouted at!"

"Shut up and fly!"

"Don't worry, I'll be alright!" I reassured him,

"You got shot!" Josh whimpered back,

"I'm fine!" I grunted as I smashed through a wire fence,

Just then a helicopter began to gain on us with a searchlight glaring down on us.

"What? They've got a helicopter after us? Is this even needed?" Josh shouted out of confusion,

"Let's just try and out speed them!" I replied still in agony,

"It's a helicopter for Christ sake! You don't just outrun a chopper! You get blown up by one! Do we have any stinger missiles? NO!" Josh screamed,

"Don't worry! We're here to help you!" A voice came from the chopper,

"How do we know that?" Josh yelled back,

"If we were with the ones that were chasing you then we would have blown you away already!" The voice continued,

Josh thought this over and was about to yell something along the lines of 'get stuffed' but I stopped him before he had chance,

"I say we trust them." I whined,

"What? We can't trust them!" Josh shouted back,

"It's all we've got! We either die by their hand or be helped by them! I'd rather take that than die for sure!" I replied,

"Grab this!" The voice butted in as a young man rappelled down on a rope along with two other ropes.

Josh never even inched.

"GRAB THE ROPE DAMMIT!" I yelled,

Josh instantly seized the rope, whilst the 'helpful' stranger rappelled further down to relieve josh of his weapon.

"YOU NEED TO GRAB THE ROPE ASWELL!" Josh shouted over the roar of the chopper,

I briefly looked to see a thick rope flailing about aimlessly behind me. Then my focus blurred past the bundle of fibres to what appeared to be a dim white light.

"Bugger." I muttered to myself, "TANGO SPOTTED ON MY SIX!" I shouted,

Josh pulled a strange face as if to say, 'is that the first thing he could think of to warn us?'.

As I slowed down slightly to make an attempt to grab the rope bullets rang out and began to pepper the dirt around me flicking up mud and debris.

"DON'T WORRY! I GOT YOUR BACK, JUST FOCUS ON GRABBING THAT ROPE!" The stranger bellowed as he helped Josh up into the heli,

Even though I'd been shot at, been shot and am in the process of being shot at I still couldn't help but shake the feeling that this guy was legitimate. He stuck his thumb up to me and disappeared into the chopper only to re-appear with some sort of big sniper.

"GRAB THE ROPE! I'LL COVER YOU!" He commanded,

Wasting absolutely no time I lowered the speed and set the ATV to cruise control leaving me able to stand up. As I lifted my hand off the accelerator and into the air to grab the length of hairy fibres a felt a surge of air and pressure rush past my bare skin. It was a bullet. It must have been a sniper because it blew the accelerator straight off the handlebar. Good thing the cruise control was in the centre of the bike. Our own sniper popped off a few sniper shots of his own, difference was, they exploded on impacted.

"HOLY CRAP!" I shouted,

The explosions caused massive dents in the wheel arch of a pursuing jeep which resulted in the tyre flying off and the vehicle to flip end over end. A new jeep careered out the way of the smouldering heap and ended up a few metres away. A soldier poked his head out of the jeeps roof whilst heaving an RPG up there with him. Our guy fired another shot directly at him. Not a pretty sight. He exploded as well as the RPG rocket leaving another heap of molten metal in our wake.

I grabbed the rope with my good arm first then grabbed it with my other hand. I agonisingly pulled myself up, and with help from Josh, managed to get into the seating area.

"Nothing ever goes right for you does it?" Josh asked as I sat down on a chair,

"Don't worry I'm fine." I replied under my breath,

Josh gave me a very disdained face to which I smiled at.

"Good to know you still have your humour." Josh smiled back,

The sniper fired a few more shots and retreated backwards.

"No time for pleasantries! Pryce! Get us out of here NOW!" He barked at the pilot,

"Yes Surge sir!" They replied,

"Surge?" Josh asked himself,

I was in too much pain to care. I was clutching my arm as blood seeped down my skin and onto the cold steel floor.

"It's alright. Let's take a look what we've got here." Surge said as he removed my hand and took a look at my wound, "That bullets right in there. We need to remove it or we'll end up removing your arm." He said in a monotone way,

"Wait! We don't even know you! Sure you helped us but we don't even know who you are!" Josh hissed,

"Sorry about that. Maybe I was in the process of saving your friends ass from those SPAS officials." He replied. "I am Lieutenant Surge of the 5th rifles in Kanto." He continued as he took off a black face mask," Me and my pilot are the ones who deactivated the main generator so you two could escape. We knew that you and your friend had the capabilities to escape from the main building so we left that up to you." He added,

"Wait. Surge? Lieutenant Surge?" I gasped,

"And kanto? As in the Japanese region or...?" Josh asked,

"No. As in the one next to Johto." Surge corrected,

"Who cares? I just want this bullet out of me!" I whimpered back,

Surge helped me up and walked me to the back of the Cobra.

"Now, I'm going to be blunt here. This will hurt but it'll help." Surge told me,

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to how it felt to have hot metal sear through your skin." I smiled,

Surge smiled at that and he grabbed a pair of, what looked like, tweezers, a clamp of some sort and placed a glass dish onto a metal worktop. He handed the tweezers to Josh,

"Hold these and do EXACTLY what I tell you to ok or this'll only prolong the pain." Surge said to Josh,

Josh simply nodded and stood next to me. The Lieutenant put some antiseptic liquid onto my wound causing me to squeeze my eyelids shut and grit my teeth. He wiped away any remaining liquid and slowly opened my bleeding wound.

"I only do this in emergencies." Surge said to me,

"I don't care, just get it out of my arm!" I protested,

He silently inserted the cold plastic clamp to hold my wound open. Surge made a gesture for Josh to hand him the tweezers, whom appeared as though he would puke. I sniggered at the thought.

Surge gently entered my wound with the steel instrument and in between the muscle until we heard a clinking noise. He'd hit the bullet. Opening the tweezers he slowly wrapped the pincers around the foreign object and slowly pulled it out. Seeing what came out was a mixture of disgust and relief.

"There. No more bullet clogging you up." Surge laughed as he dropped the bullet into the dish, removed the clap, put the tweezers onto the cabinet and retrieved another antiseptic wipe. He grabbed a surgical needle and thread and began to knit my skin back together, with extreme care. He dabbed my wound with the wipe and then wrapped a bandage around my arm.

"There. You're all good to go now." Surge smiled,

"Thanks." I replied,

He nudged me to sit back down onto the leather seats.

"Have a rest. You deserve it." He suggested,

I wasted no time in doing so and promptly slumped onto the large seat to which Josh did the same.

"Just sit back and relax. We're safe now." Surge said triumphantly,

"I sure hope so." I mused,

"Sir. Suspicious looking vehicle north-east of our position. Shall I pursue?" Pryce asked,

"Go for it." Surge replied,

We banked to the right to catch up with the truck. As we got closer I could make out some details. It was a lorry with a dark red container on the back. No doubt it was their truck. It said SPAS for Gods sake.

"These guys are dumbasses." I muttered under my breath.

"Take us in. Were getting her back for you." Surge said as he turned towards me,

We were just to the left of the cab when a scientist unwound the window and began firing a pistol at us. Pointless really. The helicopter was impervious to small arms fire.

"I'm gonna take out the driver and his passenger then take control of the cab. I'll pull over to the side and stop so you can rescue Latias from the container." Surge said,

"I'm taking out the passenger." I said as I stood up and heaved the Cheytac onto my shoulder. "They took her away from me, kidnapped me and Josh, nearly took our lives, shot me in the arm and tried to kill us. That's just a little too much for my mercy-o-meter to be honest. I'm returning the favour." I said as I re-cocked my Intervention,

"Hmm. Very well then. You deserve some revenge. Just don't get shot again. I won't be as careful as last time." Surge laughed back,

I smiled at him and took position on the edge of the bay door. I aimed down my sights at the passengers window. He wasn't there, must be reloading. Surge stood next to me and jumped out the door and into the containers roof. Just then I saw the scientist with the pistol poke his head back out the window. Probably heard the Lieutenant hit the roof.

"Your mine you heartless bitch." I whispered to myself,

I aimed right for his head and squeezed the trigger. I felt the recoil release itself into my shoulder as I attempted to cushion it as best as possible. Let's just say that the scientist wouldn't be constructing any weird machines again. Or his skull.

Surge just looked up at me as I grinned out of sheer contentment. I don't think he approved of the reason for me to smile but I'm sure he understood the notion. He crawled up to the drivers side of the cab. I just lowered my weapon and watched him at work. Surge grabbed his pistol from the holster on his leg and used the butt to smash the window. The driver must have crapped himself as the truck swerved from side the side before going straight again. Surge stuck his head down the side so he was peering into the window. The driver attempted to punch at him but missed leaving a window of opportunity open for Lieutenant Surge to respond.

"Looks like you picked the wrong kid to steal from 'cause look who he got help from." Surge taunted,

The scientist made a face as though he was about to swear at him. He never had chance as Surge pulled his guns trigger ending him. He then quickly clambered down the side, opened the door, pulled out the corpse, sat in the seat and began to pull over.

"He did it again ha ha!" Pryce laughed, "I'll take her down for you." He continued as he lowered the altitude of the Cobra.

Pryce expertly landed the chopper a few metres away from the truck allowing us to get out and meet Surge by the back.

"Lucas. Don't worry. She'll be fine. I know it." Josh said to me,

I smiled and nodded.

"It's all yours. Unlock the door." Surge said,

I reached my hand out to grab the rusty handle and I lifted it. It was extremely stiff to open but I managed to unlock it. I heaved the door open to take a look inside...

"Holy crap!" Josh said as a blur flew out the door, took me down and ended up taking me about twenty metres away from the container. "Don't shoot!" Josh shouted to Surge who was ready to fire,

I couldn't see what had hit me because there was dust everywhere hazing my vision. I could hear a soft growl as something was pinning me to the floor. I could feel a strong sensation of,' I'm going to tear you open, tear out your liver, rip out your guts, then kill you'.

As much as I didn't want to see the face of my demise I felt I had to. I shook the debris off my face and slowly opened my eyes. The figure that had me flat on the dirt was baring their teeth at me. Not something I wanted to be in between. Also they had large ears that stuck up into the air. As my vision focused on whoever this was the growling ceased.

"Oh my God. I can't believe that they were the one to pin him down ha ha. I always imagined he'd be on top!" Josh laughed,

The figure that had me down was furry. It had red and white fur to be exact. Not to mention large amber eyes that reminded me of honey.

"Latias!" I exclaimed,

"Laa?" She replied,

Her face softened to a worried smile. She removed her paws and instead wrapped them around me.

"Good to see you still remember me Latias. For a moment there I thought you were gonna ki..." a certain event cut me short,

"What the...Is she...?" Josh said whilst his face formed a contorted image,

"I believe she is little man. I believe she is." Lt Surge replied with a stern face,

Latias out of sheer happiness, and probably for nearly ripping my intestines out, was spread out on top of me. She was kissing me on the lips. It was the strangest thing I've ever felt. It felt so right, yet, somehow felt so wrong to kiss her in particular. It really didn't stop me however.

"I don't think this isn't something you should be seeing Josh." Pryce said as he attempted to cover Joshes eyes,

"I think we should leave these two alone with each other for a while..." Josh said whilst he was plunged into darkness by Pryces hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI: Together Again**

Her eyes lit up. She looked around then down at me. She instantly got off me to which she promptly lay on the floor, curled up and began to shiver. Standing up, I slowly walked over to where she was laying and crouched down.

"Latias. Please look at me." I said in a quiet, calm tone.

Placing my hand underneath her chin I gently coaxed her to lift her head and look at me. The fur on her cheeks was wet and the white of her eyes were filled with tears and the whites were blood red.

"Latias. It's okay. I missed you too." I said whilst smiling at her.

She just stared at me with her golden eyes. Tears still rolling down the strands of soft fur. I sat next to her and put my arm around her and she put her head onto my shoulder and quietly continued to cry on it.

"Lucas. I know what you're trying to comfort her but I think we should leave." Josh said still covered by Pryces hand.

"Josh's right Latias. We should leave. The ones that took you away are probably looking for us." I whispered.

She simply raised her head and nodded at me. It hurt to see her cry. She knew what she'd done would be considered wrong and out of place, wherever. I stood up, helping Latias off the ground as well. As I began to walk forwards she hovered extremely close to me and attempted to coax my hand open. I realised that she was trying to hold my hand so I stopped, gently clasped my hand around her paw and smiled at her. We both walked up to Josh, Surge and Pryce and nodded.

"Let's go. We can't have any armed guards after us again." I said as I sat down in the chopper. "I've been shot enough as it is." I continued.

Latias snapped her head round to look at me.

"What?" I asked in a confused way.

She simply looked me in the eyes, hard. She then seemed to look me over and then she noticed the small white, and now slightly red, rag around my arm. She jerked her head backwards, mouth agape, and stared at me.

"Ooooh no..." I sighed. "I can see what's gonna happen..." I laughed.

Latias obviously didn't find it funny in the slightest. She had a slightly worried, and angry, face and she was staring daggers at me.

"It's not my fault I was shot when we escaped." I argued.

She just continued to stare at me as the helicopter shook and lifted into the cool air above.

"Don't worry. Lieutenant Surge, here, removed the bullet and patched me up. He's the reason why I can still use my arm." I smiled nervously.

Latias just let go of my arm and rested her head on my shoulder once again. Josh gave me funny looks as he was sitting directly opposite to me.

"She deserves a rest after what she's been through. This is nothing compared to what she did earlier is it?" I asked rhetorically,

"You looked like you enjoyed it." Josh pressed,

"Don't push your luck. I might have been shot but I can still punch you." I threatened,

"Accept it. She was all over you and you liked it." Josh teased,

Looking at the furry dragon leaning on my shoulder, eyes closed, purring quietly, I smiled and kissed her on the forehead whispering 'good night'. She began to purr louder. Turning back to Josh I said,

"Maybe I did."

2327hours GMT +1

The Cobra hovered in mid-air before slowly descending onto a helipad. We were in some sort of army base in a, strangely, familiar place.

"Right. We've touched down at the Kanto army barracks at vermillion city. Pryce, here, will show you around the officers quarters." Surge said,

"Wait a minute, you telling us we have to stay here?" asked, Latias still completely out cold on my shoulder.

"It's late. You three deserve a rest. This is also for protection. Stay as long as you think you'll need to. My men will be happy to assist you." Surge continued.

Surge nodded at Pryce who was getting out of the pilots seat.

"Take these into the barracks and show them around." Surge ordered,

"Sir, yes sir!" He replied.

Josh stood up and left the bay area to follow Pryce. I gently nudged Latias so she would wake up. No dice. I tried to whisper into her ear but she still never responded. Horrible to think, but, was she breathing? Yes, she's purring quietly. Well why isn't she responding.

"Come on, Latias. Let's follow the others." I whispered again.

She still never replied.

"Only one thing for it." I thought to myself.

I gently lowered her head onto the seats as I stood up. Placing one hand under her back and the other by her tail I slowly lifted her up so she was comfortably cradled in my arms.

"She's lighter than I thought." I murmured.

I thought I caught her grin in the moonlight. When I looked back again she had a straight face. Odd. I smoothly stepped out of the helicopter and followed Josh into the bright door way.

"Oh God..." Josh sighed as he saw me. "You look like your carrying your new wife out of the altar!" Josh sniggered.

"Too right!" I said, playing along.

Josh just looked at me when I said that. I can swear I heard Latias purr again when I said that. Ignoring such thoughts I smiled at Josh and carried on walking, with him tagging behind. We walked down a well lit corridor until Pryce stopped.

"This is one of the officers extra rooms. This is where you can stay. There's a lamp, main light, a phone and two single beds." Pryce said monotone-ly.

"Wait. Two single beds?" I asked, "What about Latias?" I continued,

"I'm afraid it's up to you on how you sort that out." Pryce said as he walked off, "Oh and here's your room key. Don't lose it!" He said tossing me a small, silver key.

"Oh great." I mumbled as I caught it.

I walked into the room with Josh and carefully placed Latias down onto one of the beds. She promptly curled up into a ball and began to shiver. As soon as I sat down next to her she stopped and began to purr again.

"I don't think she was asleep you know." Josh suggested, "I think she might have pretended so you'd have to carry her in." Josh continued.

"I'm not so sure she'd go as far as th-"

I noticed that she'd gotten closer to me and had now put her head on my lap.

"You were saying?" Josh laughed.

"I stand corrected." I smiled as I stroked her head. She looked quite cute when she was tired.

"I think she's drooling..." Josh pointed out,

"You're 'thinking' an awful lot all of a sudden aren't you?" I quizzed.

Looking down I noticed that she had indeed fallen asleep, for real this time, and began to drool onto my right knee.

"Great...Just great..." I sighed, "Meh. We should get some sleep. We've been through too much for one day." I said as I lowered Latias' head onto the bed and lay back.

Twenty minutes after the three of us had gone to sleep...

"Sir. May I point something out?" Pryce asked,

"Go ahead Pryce." Surge replied,

"You know how on the way back from the truck, Lucas, told us what had happened whilst the two of them were on the inside?" Surge asked,

"Yeees?" Surge replied as he cocked an eyebrow,

"Well, by the sounds of things, the scientists there had finished what they'd intended to do." Pryce suggested,

"How?" the Lieutenant asked, probing for information,

"They had been experimenting on Latias yes? In that machine he was on about? Why would they leave it there if they were halfway through? They must have finished what they were doing and only left to transport Latias somewhere." Pryce continued,

"I see your point, Pryce, but that is of no concern at the moment." Surge ushered,

Pryce saluted the Lieutenant and left the room,

"Oh, but I believe it's of more concern than you think sir..." Pryce whispered as he shut the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII: Is this it?**

0952 Hours GMT +1

Clenched eyes, mouth yawning. I try and sit up in the small, single bed. No luck. I open my eyes only to see Latias curled up at the end of my bed, purring away, and lying on my feet. I smiled as I watched her slowly rise and fall in unison with her quiet breathing. She seemed to be smiling also. I turned to see how Josh as doing. Let me just say it wasn't quite the same. He was sprawled out on the bed, stomach down, face to the side and drooling onto his pillow.

"He must have been tired. He never usually does that." I thought to myself.

I turned back to look at Latias again. She was all curled up in a ball purring softly to herself. Cute. Trying not to disturb her, I smoothly, brought my legs round to the side of the bed and sat up, she only twitched a little. Smiling, I slowly, climbed out of bed only to be greeted by Pryce violently shoving the door open waking Josh up and causing Latias to Squeal and cling onto me. After painfully prying her claws off my back I could see Pryce was sorry.

"What time is it?" I asked still half asleep,

"Almost ten o'clock in the morning." Pryce replied, "Sorry for the rude awakening, I'm used to waking up recruits." He continued, trying to explain his reasons.

"Don't worry, it's fine. Any particular reason for coming in?" I asked,

Latias sort of scowled a Pryce as I was talking to him. Probably for waking her.

"Not really I'm afraid. Nothing more than being forgetful." He replied,

"Hmm. Fair enough." I said as I yawned, "Can I just ask one thing?" I quizzed,

"Fire away." Pryce said before he left the room,

"How did you know we were in that building?" I asked,

"...You'll have to ask Lieutenant Surge about that one..." Pryce replied meekly.

With that he turned around, walked out and shut the door.

"Well, looks like we're awake for the rest of the day." I laughed,

Latias just held onto my arm and slumped her head onto my shoulder in disapproval.

"Awww. Don't be too down about it Latias. We can have breakfast back home then play for the rest of the day. How's that sound?" I asked as though I was speaking to a young child,

Latias' head rose off my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. She game a small smile before laying her head back down.

"She's started getting really close to you recently." Josh said whilst rubbing the sleep out of his eyes,

"Well that's not a problem is it?" I asked,

"Not really, as long as you don't go snogging her when I'm around." Josh replied,

Latias lifted her head back off my shoulder to glare at Josh, but, was far too tired to bother doing anything. Just to be defiant I turned to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Josh simply turned away.

"God streuth." Josh sighed,

Latias began to blush and started rubbing her head against my face.

"Let's just go..." Josh sighed again,

Twenty Minutes Later...

-We walked down a large corridor filled with photos of soldiers, war heroes and legends. Well in my mind at least. Latias was holding my hand and just seemed to be trying to get a scent of something interesting and Josh was walking next to us with his hands in his pockets humming 'Year 3000'. We came to a door which said 'Officers Quarters'. I knocked on the door to see if Lieutenant Surge was in there.

"Surge. You in there? I need to ask you something." I shouted,

The door promptly unlocked and opened to reveal Surge wearing his trademark combats and sunglasses.

"What is it little man?" He asked,

"It's important. It's about you and Pryce." I replied.

"I think I can see where this is going. Come in and have a seat." Surge said as he moved out the way.

We sat down on a couch-like chair and Surge sat opposite.

"What is it you wanted to ask then?" He quizzed,

"Well I was just curious as to why you two came and helped us, and, why you even knew we were there in the first place." I said laying the whole thing on the metaphorical table.

"Well we came because you needed help." Surge replied half-openly.

"But how did you know we were there? It's not like anyone else really knew what had happened considering it was at night, in the woods, in the middle of nowhere." I continued,

"Hmmm. I'm incredibly reluctant to let this slip." The Lieutenant said,

"Please do. It's important we know." I suggested,

"Before I say anything, you have to promise that you will not under any circumstances shout, scream or curl up into a ball and weep." Surge said,

"Errm, sure...I think." I muttered,

"Right. Well we've been keeping a close eye on you, you see. You're important. You share a great bond with your Latias. Far stronger than that of any trainer. That's why we believe that SPAS wanted to capture her." The officer continued,

"But why would they want to experiment on her? What could they possibly need from her? Or even put in her?" I asked,

"That we don't know I'm afraid. We know just as much as you do so far and we intend to look further into it. There has to be logic behind, even a mad mans, projects." Lieutenant Surge replied,

The thought of the word project made me feel sick. To think that the happy ball of fur next to me is simply a scientists project, only to be experimented on without reason.

"Look, don't go worrying about it. The thing is you're safe, she's safe. Let's just keep it at that." Surge suggested.

I looked up and nodded at him in acknowledgment. We got up and went to leave the room.

"Oh one more thing. Can we get a lift home?" I asked,

Surge just laughed,

"Sure! Get on the chopper and I'll get Pryce to fly you out back to England!" Surge smiled,

"Thanks." I said returning a smile.

I opened the door to find Pryce stumble backwards.

"Err...I'll meet you in a minute." He stuttered before entering Surge's room.

"Odd." I thought,

"He seemed a little...shocked." Josh said as we continued down the corridor.

"Why didn't you tell them?"

"They don't have to know. It doesn't concern them."

"It one-hundred percent concerns them! She was kidnapped and tested on for God knows what reason only to be rescu-"

"It doesn't concern you either! It would only mean worse things for the future. Leave me to sort out this...mess. Just focus on getting them back safely."

"Yes, Sir..."

15 minutes later

"Honestly, I can't wait to get back home to familiar surroundings." I smiled,

"One thing. You promised Latias breakfast, and I really do hate to remind you but, your family still knows nothing about her." Josh replied,

"I'm sure I can sneak something out for her." I said whilst listening to Latias' growling stomach.

Just then Pryce climbed into the seating bay on the helicopter and sat in the pilot's seat.

"Okay then. We all set?" Pryce asked,

"Yep. " I replied, "All ready to go!"

"Good, good. Please keep all arms, legs and draconic lovers in the chopper at all times, and remember, have a safe flight." Pryce said jokingly.

The four-and-a-half-tonne piece of tempered steel and armaments lifted off the ground in a swift plume of dust from the ground. We tilted forward and headed towards my home, in whatever direction that was.

"Last night was quite a night for you guys then huh?" Pryce asked,

"That's one way of putting it, yes." I replied,

"Not to annoy you or anything but we've vowed keep a much closer eye on you three so we can prevent SPAS from getting what they want." Pryce said in a way that seemed comforting,

"Let's just hope they haven't already." I said quietly.

A long while passed as we flew through the cool sea breezes, above animals that took on the elements and across land that didn't look anything like...well...Earth.

"Are we even on Earth?" I thought to myself, "Surely we have to be. I mean...Kanto is a real place in Japan. Then again Johto isn't. Surely not..."

"You look deep in thought." Josh said, "What you thinking about?" He asked,

"About where we are." I replied,

"Kanto. Lieutenant Surge even said so." Josh continued,

"I know that. But haven't you thought about where exactly? I mean it's not like the Kanto in Japan is anything like this." I suggested,

Josh made a thoughtful face. Something quite rare.

"It made me think. Are we even on Earth?" I asked rhetorically whilst looking out the window to see a school of Goldeen leaping in and out of the water below,

"Hmmm. Now you mention it I haven't really given it any thought. From everything we've seen, we've, never had anything close to what's here." Josh replied,

I just sat back into my seat, careful not to knock Latias, and thought about how we may have gotten to this 'other Earth'. There's no way we could have simply been taken to an extremely remote place in the Ocean to a place that no one knows about, regardless of how big the expanse of water is. It's physically impossible for that to happen right? But then again, how impossible, would it be to be taken to a completely different expanse of land and sea? Really, how is, any of what's happened recently possible?

Latias stirred slightly in her sleep.

"Any ideas where we are Pryce?" I asked,

"Yeah. We're flying over the Soudai Ocean, just east of Hoenn." Pryce replied,

"Soudai Ocean? We're definitely not on 'Earth'." I mumbled, "Does Soudai actually mean anything or..." I asked expectantly,

"It means grand in Japanese. Named so by the man who first sailed it years ago." Pryce continued,

"Who might that of been? I'm guessing he was Japanese as well then." I asked trying to pass the time,

"His name was Ichigo Hanruko. He named it Soudai due to the fact that 'grand' possessions were transported around on that Ocean soon after his journey." Pryce said,

I nodded with a smile just to let him know I acknowledged what he has said, however, deep down I couldn't shake the feeling that, for some reason or another, this wouldn't be our only trip here. We'd be coming back very soon. Pushing the thought to the back of my mind I proceeded to stroke Latias' ears to which she promptly purred at. My attention was so focused on stroking Latias that I seemed to lose track of all sense of time and orientation. I looked up to see where we were only to find that we were flying over the forest that we were camping at.

"What the..." I contested with myself, "How the hell did we get here so fast and without us knowing?" I thought to myself.

I turned to Josh to ask if he noticed anything, but strangely enough, he was fast asleep in his chair.

"Honest to God, that kid, has started falling asleep in the strangest of places." I muttered,

"Alright then. I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you guys here." Pryce said as he turned around,

"Why's that? Couldn't you get us closer to home?" I asked, not wanting to sound pushy,

"Afraid not. You can't tell me that you wouldn't think anything if a helicopter landed down the road and let two kids off right?" Pryce laughed,

I could see his point. Especially with our furry friend here.

"Alright then. I guess this is goodbye then, 'ey Lucas?" Pryce waved as we got off the helicopter,

"I wouldn't bet on it." I whispered,

Pryce face turned thoughtful for a moment, before, closing the hatch and sitting back down in the cockpit.

I sighed a breath of relief.

"I can't believe the things that've happened in the past few days. It's been so...sudden." I stated,

"Life's like that. It springs things on us when we least expect them to." Josh said chipping in,

"What? And send a psycho organisation to hunt us down and kidnap us?" I asked rhetorically,

"Well...Life sucks." Josh said.

We both laughed at his remark but Latias only seemed interested in getting home. She was tugging at my arm, whining.

"She must be hungry." I said, "Let's go and get something to eat then. You want to come back to mine Josh?" I asked,

"Nah I have to go home or else my parents will start to freak out." Josh said,

"Your parents freaking out? You've got a better chance of me sprouting wings!" I laughed,

"We don't know how long we've been gone for. I'm sure that me not contacting them for a few days will get them worried. I dread to think about yours." Josh said,

"Crap. I didn't think about mine. Let's go then or else we'll be even later." I suggested,

We started on our way back home to where this story first introduced itself. Before any of this even happened. But believe me when I say this. Things have only just begun.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII: Good Lord...**

The three of us walked back to the drive of my house and waved goodbye to Josh as he carried on towards his own home.

"Alright then. Let's get you something to eat." I said to Latias. Her stomach growled in agreement.

I saw the blinds in the living room move a little out the corner of my eye. Ignoring it, thinking it was just my eyes, I walked up to the door reaching out for the handle.

Suddenly the door burst open making Latias turn invisible and me jump backwards as I wondered what the bloody hell was going on.

"YOU'RE SAFE!" someone shouted,

"I should certainly hope so." I replied as I looked up,

The person that was standing in the doorway, and had given me a damn good scare, was none other than my own mum. All of a sudden tears started forming under her eyes. As I stood up she grabbed my arm and pulled me inside the house and into the living room.

"Jeez. What's a matter?" I asked in confusion,

"Watch this." She said as she started playing something that had been recorded on sky,

It was a news report. Namely to do with a strange group asking people if they'd seen something and showing them a photo. There was even a guy who'd recorded them at a distance doing so.

"Wow. They are dumb. They asked loads of random people if they'd seen Latias." I thought to myself.

It changed to an interview with a guy who said that he saw the group head towards the woods shortly after two boys went in. A squad of police went in to find the boys but all that was found was an old doused fire.

"Good God!" I thought, "It's all over the news and everything."

I took a mental note of the time in the corner of the screen. September 5th.

"Crap." I thought, "We've been missing for ages."

My mum turned the news back off and sat next to me. I could tell what she wanted to know.

"What happened?" she asked,

I was dumbstruck. I hadn't a single clue on what to say. I thought it wrong to not tell the truth due to the nature of the situation but felt it idiotic to tell the truth. I had to choose between my thoughts and my feelings.

"It's kinda hard to explain..."

"I need to know." She cut in,

Taking a big breath knowing that this wasn't something that I could wangle my way out of I cracked, for once in my life, and told her everything, mentally, slapping myself every time I had to mention anything to do with Latias. I could see in her eyes that she thought I was lying.

"And I suppose you expect me to turn around and say 'oh alright then that's fine'." She stated once I'd finished,

"Hardly. I know that it's hard to take as truth but..."

"You're damn right about that!" She butted in whilst raising her voice.

"But honest to God, you have to believe me." I said, trying to reason with her,

"And why's that then? You don't have anything to prove it. As far as I'm concerned you're covering up for something." She replied sternly,

Taking what she said into consideration I thought back to how I was pulled back into the house...

Hot damn! I've got just the thing!

"Be right back. I've got someone I want you to meet." I said smiling,

I rushed back out the living room, skidding on the light brown wooden flooring and ran to the door and unlocked it.

"If this doesn't convince her God knows what will." I laughed, "Hey! Can you come in for a moment?" I said to the empty air outside,

Suddenly I was greeted by a smiling face which faded into view directly in front of mine. I took them by the arm and brought them into the house, being careful not to let them hit the door by accident. Leading them into the living room where my mum was I presented them.

My mum had the look of sheer shock on her face. Mouth agape she kept on staring at her.

"Don't stare." I laughed, "It's rude!"

She promptly turned her gaze towards me.

"Believe me now?" I asked,

Latias turned to face me as if to say 'big mistake' as she hovered above the floor.

"What's that?" my mum asked suddenly,

"Not what. Who. This is Latias. The big, red dragon I've been on about for the past fifteen minutes." I replied smugly,

"I see. One question though. Is she friendly?" she asked cautiously,

"Would I have brought her into the house if not." I said,

"Well you've done a few stupid things in the past." She huffed,

Latias covered her mouth as she started to giggle to herself.

"To be perfectly honest I thought you'd be a lot more shocked than you were." I stated,

"Trust me. I'm a mother. I've seen some things in my time." She replied,

I was taken aback by her comment but decided it best not to think too hard about it for the fear of self scarring.

"Changing the subject now. I don't want to leave you in this kinda state but we're gonna get something to eat. We're starving." I said,

Me and Latias left the room and went to the kitchen whilst my mum mulled over what had just happened.

I opened the cupboard by the sink to have a look what we had.

"Well I'm not sure we've got a fat lot to be honest." I said as I peered into the dark expanse of cans. There was the odd can of fruit among the cans of soup and beans 'n' sausage. "I guess we've got cereal, but, that's probably the only thing at this time of day." I continued whilst looking at the microwave clock.

Latias looked rather interested when I said the word cereal. I'm not sure she really knew what 'cereal' was. Nonetheless I opened a cupboard further to the left which was full of things meant to, supposedly, start the day right. What better time than at ten AM?

"Well, I guess, I should leave you to pick what you want to eat. After all, you're the guest ha ha!" I said, backing away from the cupboard,

"Whoo!" She smiled in a cheery way despite the incessant growling her stomach made,

She peered inside the small box-like area where we keep the breakfast stuff and sifted through some of the things we had there. She seemed to move the box of 'Sugar Puffs', rather quickly, out of the way. I don't think she liked the way the honey monster looked. She finally settled on Cheerios, and funnily enough it they were the plainest thing we had other than porridge.

I poured her a bowl, as well as myself, and we had breakfast together at the breakfast bar. Latias seemed to be struggling to hold the spoon I'd given her, making my laugh a little.

"It might be easier if you use psychic." I suggested,

She simply smiled at me as she dropped the spoon back into her bowl once again.

When we'd finished, I cleared up the bowls and walked out the kitchen gesturing for Latias to follow. Just then the door knocked. Latias' ears pricked up at the horrendous noise we have as a door bell.

"Who's here this early?" I asked myself,

Latias turned invisible and sat by the stairs, watching intently. I grabbed the door handle and opened it slowly.

"Hey!" the person said,

It was none other than another of my friends, David. He was carrying a bag with him and, by the looks of the lump by his pocket, his pokéwalker.

"Err...hey. You alright?" I asked, a little confused as to why he was ringing at my house at ten in the morning,

"Yeah, good thanks. You look tired. Get any sleep?" David laughed,

I just laughed half-heartedly back,

"Not to sound rude, but, why are you here exactly?" I asked,

"You invited me over like last Saturday." David laughed again,

"Crap!" I thought, "I'd forgotten about that!" I panicked. I smiled and nodded despite being completely panic ridden due to my sieve-brain. I moved to the side letting him pass.

"So what you want to do?" David asked,

"Err...I don't mind." I heard a bump in the kitchen. I could tell Latias had moved, "Let's go upstairs." I quickly suggested,

"Errm...Sure, whatever's best." David shrugged as I darted upstairs.

I heard the back door close, quietly. At least Latias had gone outside, out of the way.

"So, yeah, I brought my DS with me, like always, and some PS2 games." David said as we sat down on my bed,

"Cool. You wanna go on Heart Gold? Haven't been on that in a while." I asked,

"Sure! I need to trade something from another ga..." David hesitated,

"What's a matter?" I asked, confused,

"Something was in the garden but it's not there anymore." He replied,

"What colour?" I asked, worried,

"Not sure. Think it was a reddy colour or something." David said, trying to pass off what I already knew was true.

'Crap.' I thought, "I hope that's the only thing he noticed." I said as I picked up my DS and turned it on,

"It's like it disappeared or something." He continued,

My face dropped at the statement, resembling something that was about to be hit by a pan.

Considering that David wasn't paying much attention anyway, and the fact that he hadn't been watching the news, it was all good. For the time being.

"So you want to have a battle for old times' sake first, or, trade over first?" I asked, thinking that David would reply spontaneously.

Unfortunately, I forgot that, David is the type who sees something and stays quiet for a while, mulling it over. Unfortunately, this was one of those times.

"I can swear that whatever that was looked familiar." David said,

"I'm sure it was nothing. Just seeing things." I argued,

"No I'm sure I saw it. It looked familiar." David responded,

"You're just seeing things." I argued again, "Just see..."

"Latias" David cut in,

"Huh?" I replied, taken aback,

"Latias. It was a Latias." He repeated,

"How can it be?" I laughed meekly, "It doesn't exist!" I continued weakly,

"Well I thought so but they do..." David replied,

"How so?" I asked, trying to catch him off guard,

"I'm looking at them." He stated,

Turning around, I saw, Latias' furry, little face out the window. On the first floor. Trust her to be so damn curious when you least expect it. She'd poked her nose around the side of the window whilst I was too busy swapping things about in my party. Damn it.

"I hope I'm not dreaming." David said smugly,

"Why?" I stammered,

"Because this is so damn cool." He replied heartily,

'Why the hell isn't anyone surprised to see a freakin' Pokémon!' I screamed mentally. 'It's like the whole world doesn't really give a crap if something weird happens, nowadays!', I continued, raging in my thoughts.

"Why the hell aren't you surprised, exactly?" I asked,

"Because this means that there's probably other Pokémon too." He smiled,

What...the hell. Surely that's the last thing you'd expect when going over someone's house, right? 'Oh hey! Wanna go on Heart Gold? Oh hey! A random Salamence in your garden! Cool!' It just doesn't happen for goodness sake.

"Let me get this straight. You came over to play the DS and PS2, you see a Pokémon, randomly, and all you can think of is, 'cool'?" I asked, in dismay,

"Well surely this means you're happy that there really ARE Latias in the world, right?" He sniggered,

"Hang on." I said, kicking myself mentally as I left the room to go downstairs,

"You two having fun?" My mum asked,

Looking through the door, into the living room, I noticed she really didn't care that I brought a female, flying red and white dragon into the house. How? She was sitting down with a box of 'Celebrations' watching 'Murder She Wrote'.

I went to the back door, in the kitchen, and opened it.

"Latias. Come here a minute please." I said as happily as I could, desperately trying to hide my unbelief,

"Whoo?" She replied as she greeted me with a warm smile,

"Look. How many times have I said, 'no one can see you unless I specifically say so'?" I asked rhetorically.

She just cocked her head to the side and stared into my eyes, still smiling.

I just chuckled.

"Come with me." I said taking her paw, "You might as well meet him properly."

Taking her back upstairs, past the living room, my mum called back, 'I saw you holding her hand. Don't do anything you'll regret.'

Sick. Just...sick.

Ignoring the statement, as best as I could, I told Latias to wait outside my door until I say so. She just nodded in acknowledgement. God knows how much she actually took in.

"David. I need to tell you something before I let you in on a secret." I said, walking back into the room,

"What? Either that you already know that Latias or you 'charmed' her in about five minutes somehow." He replied,

"Huh?" I thought, "Oh for goodness sake!"

I knew it. She hadn't taken in anything I'd said at all. She followed me in and was trying to grab my hand again.

Today was going to be a long day...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX: Unfortunate Predicament**

"I knew something wasn't right." David laughed,

"I can explain..." I stammered,

"Do you really need to?" he replied in a tone that seemed rhetorical,

"Errm..." I hesitated,

"It's not like you haven't dreamt of 'charming' one, is it?" David smirked,

I just squinted at him, jokingly of course. Latias, however, was giggling to herself cutely.

"Well don't think there'll be any of that 'Hogs of War' stuff happening!" I said,

David laughed at the thought of our inside joke, about me putting 'Hogs of War' into ye ol' PS1 and a rather...rude image appearing. Damn piracy!

"Phew...for the love of God, I hope, there won't be." David laughed, heartily,

"I had five-one pound coins for ages, and they're still there, un-spent!" I laughed trying to 'milk the joke'.

Latias stopped giggling and floated on the spot thoughtfully, wondering what I meant. David shook his head, disapprovingly.

"Sick child." He jested,

"Well, we can't stay here making innuendo about history, can we?" I said,

"Maybe you can't." David replied,

"Well I guess I have to tell you the story of 'bravado'" I sighed,

Four hours later alongside some food...

"So that news report about the wierdos going into the woods, was a kidnapping-slash-Pokénapping of you, Latias and Josh? This is the sort of crap that you'd expect in a fan-fic, not life." David stated,

"Tell me about it. And what's more, my knowledge of weapons is nothing t be sniffed at. Or to be taken shot at." I laughed,

"So how did it feel to actually remove someone from existence? Even if they were evil?" David asked,

"Terrible. Like something inside me snapped. I felt sick knowing that I'd just ended a life with my own hands. In knowing what I did, it had to be done. If not he would have killed me, therefore jeopardising any chance of rescuing Latias." I replied,

I took a quick glance at Latias. She was sitting on my bed, behind me, listening intently to the rescue attempt made by me and Josh. She appeared fairly flattered by how I referred to it as 'jeopardising' the attempt to save her if I had been injured or even killed. As though she was a great deal to me. Obviously she was very precious to me. She just never really took it into consideration until recent events. Giving a brief smile, I turned back to David.

"You said that later on you were in a dark corridor where you found other soldiers. You killed them too, no?" David continued,

"Yeah. The first time I killed someone was a bad hit to the conscience, to say the least. After that, when I said something snapped, it's like I lost morality towards anyone who dares to hurt anyone close to me. I didn't care what happened to them, as long as they couldn't hurt her. I felt they had to pay for what they did." I replied, recollecting.

"I can't really see you as being a bloodthirsty killer, to be honest. Even if someone was trying to hurt someone you were close to." David said,

"Yeah, neither can I really, but this was different. It's not like it's some sort of RPG where a metaphorical person who's supposedly close to you is in danger and you have options. This was the real deal. Knowing, in the back of your mind, people are trying to kill you, people are trying to kill your friend and people are trying to kill someone you love, things change in your mind. You know that if you don't attempt to escape. You don't attempt to save them. They will die. And there's no continues out there." I stated, in a monotone voice.

"Hell, at least games have come in handy for you now" David laughed,

"Well, if they hadn't, I would have been screwed, Josh, possibly, and Latias..." I stopped and turned to Latias.

"Well, you get the idea." I continued, whilst leaning over and kissing her on the forehead gently.

She dipped her head slightly and giggled to herself, sweetly. David simply rolled his eyes at the sight, without uttering a word.

"So what's the thing about Surge? He give you a badge?" David asked, trying to turn my attention away from my open emotions.

"Ha ha! No he give me something more valuable. Stitches in my arm to stop me bleeding to death and my life in general." I replied, jesting slightly,

"Wait, stitches?" David quizzed,

I lifted my sleeve and showed him the five stitches I had on the underside of my right arm.

"And it bloody hurt too!" I laughed,

"You land on metal or something?" David asked,

"Try being shot. Well, taking a glancing blow." I smiled, "That's how the bullet got wedged, otherwise it would have come out the other side." I laughed,

"So Surge did some 'emergency surgery' then? What was he like?" David probed,

"He saved my life, so he knew what he was doing, for sure. Something just didn't seem right. He said they've been keeping an eye on me and Latias for some time. They as in 'the Vermillion Army', I'd imagine. Just something about his mannerisms didn't seem right." I said,

"Not to make it sound like twenty-questions, but, in what way?" David asked,

"He seemed to be keeping something from me. Something important that he couldn't tell me. Then again, a Lieutenant of his stature means that he probably can't tell me certain things. It's just it seems like he was keeping something to himself when he shouldn't have." I replied,

"Well, it's over now isn't it? After all, you said that he'd be keeping an eye on you still, for your own safety." David said, trying to assure me.

I turned to David with a thoughtful look. I wasn't sure whether to agree with him or not.

"I certainly hope so." I replied coldly.

Getting off the bed, I went to the window and looked out to the view of houses. Looking at all the bricks lined up carefully to form a house. A solid, comfortable place where one shouldn't worry about anything. What a load of bullcrap. This is sad. Over the short time I've been in the Kanto region I've come to realise that sitting at home not doing anything in complete comfort means you're not living life at all. Leaving the comfort zone to venture out into new places, meeting new people and even discovering something, as cliché as it sounds, can change a person.

"Since my unintentional visit to 'Kanto', I've come to realise, life here; is crap and boring. No-one ever does anything worthwhile. Before being kidnapped all I did was sit on my arse playing bloody 'Black Ops' and 'MW2'. Where's that going to get me in life, really?" I thought out loud,

"Well it did help you escape their facility, didn't it? Wasn't totally wasted." David said,

Turning back to David to continue, I said, "When we were captured, as terrible as it was, I felt like I was in danger."

"Well no crap. You were beat around the back of the head, kidnapped, held hostage for information, shot someone, got shot and nearly got blown up." David replied,

"I meant that it felt good to feel the need to be using an emotion other than boredom." I replied, "Let's go downstairs. We've been up here for hours." I suggested, as I left the room

"yeah, then we can get cracking on the aforementioned boredom, you spoke of." David jested as we headed down the stairs,

"I'm gonna get a drink. You want one?" I asked as I headed into the kitchen,

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" My mum called, as she paused 'Diagnosis Murder',

I took a peek at the frosted glass on the front door, out of curiosity. Grey clothes.

My mum turned the key in the door and slowly pulled it open. A group of men wearing different shades of grey stood at the door, at least five. Each had a small lump on their left hip.

"Crap..." I whispered as I hid against the wall next to the door, pulling Latias beside me.

"Whoo?" She 'said', cocking her head to the side slightly,

"For God's sake, leave us alone!" I thought to myself, "I have got a bad feeling about those guys." I whispered to David,

"Things just get more and more cliché as life rolls on by, huh?" David whispered back,

I simply frowned at him. If these guys really are affiliated with 'S.P.A.S', despite them all wearing grey outfits and all having bald heads for some STRANGE reason, then we're pretty screwed. Unless we leave. Right now...

"Quick, follow me!" I hissed,

I dragged them to the back door, and unlocked it quietly. I could hear my mum answering questions like 'Do you have a son' and 'Are they home at the moment'. Not particularly sure why my mum was answering the questions because I know probably wouldn't...

I quickly ushered everyone outside into the back garden and out through the gate, silently closing the kitchen door behind me.

"It's important you listen to me carefully. We need to get out of here now. We're going to try and sneak past them and up to Joshes house. If they don't see us or they don't care that we're going, everything's fine. If not bloody peg it. If things go belly up, take Latias with you and go as fast as you can to the left, through the industrial estate, and lose them." I instructed,

"What about you?" David asked, whilst Latias gripped my hand, tightly,

"I'm a big boy now. I can handle myself!" I smiled,

I knew in my gut that something was going to happen and we needed to get out alive. These buggers just won't leave us alone for crying out loud. I carefully, and quietly, unlatched the second gate lock and pulled it open. We crept carefully over the grass behind the car and went to get on the pavement. One of the men turned around and saw us. He turned back to face the door.

"Phew. Looks like they're not who I thought they were." I sighed,

He did a double take and shouted whilst pointing.

"Bollocks..." I said under my breathe, "RUN!" I shouted, pointing towards the industrial grounds.

David began to sprint down the road with Latias tagging right behind him.

"GET THEM!" One of the men shouted, "TWO OF YOU WITH ME!" He shouted again, as my mum slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Nice to know she's bothered about my safety like she was earlier." I thought,

I then remembered what I should be doing. Running for my bloody life.

I began to run down the road in the opposite direction to David, namely the incredibly arduous way as it's probably about twenty-minutes longer.

"Cross country better help me out on this one" I panted as I ran past my school.

Plumes of dust and stone puffed up around my feet as loud cracks sounded behind me.

"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right..." I thought to myself as I realised that those 'lumps' on their hips really were what I thought they were.

The day's just get better and more cliché as they arrive. I'm starting to think my life's turned into a fan-fiction...

"I wish I'd picked up a smaller weapon as well and brought it with me." I huffed, running down the hill towards 'One-Stop'.

Suddenly there was an even louder crack that rang out from in front of me and a loud "URRGH!" from behind.

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE, DAMMIT!" I yelled as I 'dolphin-dived' behind a car, winding myself and scraping my right arm on the concrete.

I'd much prefer to land like this than shed my blood onto the pathway. Looking behind I noticed that the tallest of the three bald men lay sprawled out on road, where we crossed, which was slowly becoming increasingly stained. He'd dropped his pistol onto the ground, and it'd scraped along the floor towards me. An M1911 by the looks of things. I quickly seized it as another shot ripped through the leg of one of the remaining men, who was bewildered at what was going on. I dropped the magazine, from the pistol, into my hand to check how much ammo was left. Enough for now.

"Crap! I got a jam!" a familiar voice sounded from the bushes.

I re-inserted the mag and turned to face the remaining man. He stared at me as he reloaded and aimed. I pulled back the chamber and fumbled about trying to put my finger around the trigger again. As he pressed the trigger, another loud crack sounded, causing his gun to fly out of his hand, as he recoiled out of pain. I stood up and took aim, and squeezed the trigger. He made a thud as he hit the floor. I wiped sweat from my forehead and looked around at the houses along the street. I saw a pair of blinds suddenly close. Someone must have been watching the firefight. Remembering the person that took two of them out to start with, I rolled behind the car I was near. I checked one of the men's belt-line for any spare mags, and swapped one for my half empty case, sticking three more into my pocket and prepped for any more self-defence that I had to do.

"Calm down, Lucas." They called, "It's me, Pryce." They continued.

I watched through the back window of the Megane I was behind and saw a ghillied figure jump over the wire fence and onto the road. He removed his mask, and sure enough, it was Pryce. I stood up and walked over to him, Colt clasped in my right hand.

"Why is it you've turned up just as I'm about to get shot?" I laughed, thankful he was there.

"Well, that's my job." He replied, with a smile, "As I was heading back to base I noticed a group of guys, clad in grey clothes, walking up to your house. I decided to tail them for a while. When I realised that they were gonna ring your doorbell I landed the chopper in the countryside, down the road, and ghillied up. I knew roughly which direction you'd be heading in and set up. I knew that you'd be alright until then." He said,

"Well it's bloody good to know you're right!" I replied,

"I saw six of them. We took out three. Where's the other three?" Pryce asked,

"They chased after David and..." I stopped,

"We've got to stop them. Where are they heading?" He asked,

"I sent them to Josh's house, and to try and lose them." I said,

Pryce looked thoughtfully for a moment. "We need to get to them NOW." He said, "There's no way they'll lose them. They've got the means of keeping track of you, somehow, and they'll try to kill your friends now they know where they're heading, to put it bluntly." He said,

"Well let's stop dicking around and help them." I said, worried for their safety, and especially, hers.

"Not with a pistol you can't. I've got stuff in the chopper, but, we'll have to be quick, they can't wait forever." Pryce said.

More guns? Another firefight, to save the girl? Brilliant...


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X: Guns, Ghillies and...More Guns**

Pryce and I sprinted back to his gunship and yanked open the side door. Pryce lent in and retrieved a large silver container. He entered a code on the digital keypad on the top, unclipped the locks on either side and lifted the lid. Inside it was firearms of different classes and specs.

"Take whatever you want, we'll need it." Pryce said as he slung his L96 over his back and grabbed an M14.

I sifted through a pile of Subs looking for a good assault rifle. Heaven knows how heavy it would be, considering I needed to sprint with it. I found a FAMAS, a reflex sight and several thirty-round mags peppered throughout the box. I retrieved it, along with a bandolier sash at the very bottom, and filled the pockets. Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket. God knows how it didn't break when I dolphin-dived.

Looking at the screen, I noticed the name. Josh.

"Hello?" I called as I heard violent shattering in the background,

"Lucas! David thought he'd lost them when he arrived, but, somehow they managed to get here anyway!" Josh shouted above the racket, which was presumably gunfire. Sounded like fully auto weapons, through the distortion,

"Where are you?" Josh Demanded, "They're spraying the house like crap!" He shouted,

"Where's your mum and dad?" I asked, worried for their safety,

"Out! I called them when I got home and they seemed alright about us 'missing'! We need help NOW!" He replied,

"I'm on my way! Just hang tight! Get to the back of the house and STAY LOW!" I shouted,

I hung up and put the phone back into my pocket. I put the pistol into my right leg pocket and inserted a fresh magazine into the FAMAS. I slid the reflex sight onto the gun rails and locked it into position, pulling the chamber pin back. Grabbing a G11 along with two extra mags and a crossbow, with bolts, I slung them over my back.

All this metal hanging on my back, and the thought of having to run with it, makes me glad that i'm used to running with heavy loads on my back.

"Let's go. They don't have long left before the place falls down around them." I said, facing Pryce,

He simply nodded in approval, but grabbed something long from the box before me left. He let me lead the way. We left the cobra behind, in the empty, unused field in the countryside and sprinted for Joshes house. I just hope we get there before the soldiers start 'clearing the debris'.

We ran as fast as we could go, me and my arsenal laden back and Pryce with his heavy ghillie and L96A1. We kept it up until we came to the corner around from his home. Pryce crawled into a nearby bush and scoped down his rifle.

"Two tangos in sight. Automatic rifles. Side-arms. Stun grenades. The lot." He whispered, "I don't want to risk taking a shot as it'll alert any others that may be inside." He continued, pulling away and facing me.

"How're you gonna do it then?" I replied, slightly worried.

"Not me. You." He answered, as he drew something from one of his many pockets and rolled it to me, quietly.

A silencer.

"We didn't have enough time to find one for my L96, but, the box is full of assault rifle suppressors. Screw it onto the barrel and take them out." He said,

"I'm not a soldier. I didn't want any of this crap to happen. Can't you do it?" I asked, getting distraught about the increasing amount of killing I was being subject to.

"Listen. You ARE a soldier now. You need to do what has to be done, and you know it. The longer we argue the less time they've got. She's in trouble, as well as both of your friends. It's either pussy out or take action and help them. Choose what a half-decent person would do." He said in response.

I stayed crouched behind brick wall, clenching my FAMAS. I did know what had to be done, even if I didn't like it. I screwed the silencer on carefully, and tightly.

"Gimme a knife." I demanded,

Pryce quickly passed me his combat knife. I turned it in the sunlight, where it reflected off its polished surface.

"Sharp." I exclaimed, "Perfect." I continued.

"I'll keep a look out for any other late-comers. If you hear loud, single, shots from out here. Things have gone belly up and you need to extract them ASAP." Pryce said,

I nodded and he went back to scoping towards the house. The closest soldier was leaning against a tree, weapon hanging slack by his side. The second was sitting on the wall facing the bullet riddled front door, gun on his lap.

I crouch-walked round the wall, FAMAS on my back and knife gripped in my hand. I kept an eye on the guy sitting on the wall because he still had his finger around the trigger. I slowly stepped up towards the man leaning on the tree. He sounded like he was snoring. My grip tightened on the handle of the knife as I brought it backwards and plunged it into his back. As I did it I grabbed hold of his head and covered his mouth, so he wouldn't make a noise. When he stopped struggling I removed the knife and wiped it on the grass.

"This crap really has turned me into a soldier at my own misfortune." I thought,

The second soldier was too distant to hear the muffled pleas for help from his comrade. Inserting the knife into my pocket, I retrieved my gun and brought it to bear. I snuck up behind the soldier and wrapped my arm around his throat. I pulled him backwards off the wall and hit him with the butt of the rifle. Leaving him be I crept up to the porch and took a peek through one of the various holes in the door. Hallway looked clear, same for the stairs. I stood back and held my breath, trying to listen to any voices from anywhere. Silence. I took hold of my Colt and slowly opened the door, as quietly as I possibly could.

"Looks all clear so far..." I thought, looking at the various sized holes which peppered the walls. Some were frighteningly large. The holes varied from roughly a centimetre to around an inch and a half.

I gently leant against the wall by the kitchen and took out my knife. I silently shimmied along and heard quiet rustling from inside.

"Someone must be rustling around in his fridge." I thought, "Cheeky git." I continued,

I heard them unscrew the lid off a bottle and begin to drink the contents. They replaced the lid and put the bottle back in the fridge, shutting the door. I heard the footsteps grow quieter, so very slightly, as they fumbled with the blinds by the window at the other end of the kitchen.

"He must be a watchman. I need to take him out." I thought.

Going into a crouching position, I stepped into the kitchen and leant against the cupboard and took a quick look around it. He was still looking out the window. I crept behind him and silently brought my knife into the side of his neck, muffling the cries he made. I gently lowered them onto the floor behind the breakfast unit and walked back into the hallway. I looked into the living room and watched for any movement in the glass backdoor. No signs of anybody.

"They'd better be alright." I hoped, as I roadie-ran up the stairs, pistol in hand, and blood-stained knife in the other.

I kept an eye out for anyone upstairs. All the doors were shut, but, there were voices from inside Joshes room, and they sounded angry...

Suddenly there was a noise from the bathroom. A toilet flush.

"Bugger!" I thought, panicking,

I was at the top of the stairs and the handle on the door was turning.

"What can I do now?" I thought, literally fearing for my life,

As the door opened, the soldier was tying up his belt. I quickly replaced my Colt and put my combat knife in my right hand. He suddenly stopped fiddling with his belt and looked straight up at me. His eyes widened, wondering why I was there, and, why the hell I had a combat knife.

He grabbed for his sidearm, as his trousers fell down. I leapt at him, knocking him to the floor, with a softened thud on the carpet. Hitting his gun out of his hand, I punched him on the nose, hard. He flailed at the sudden pain and bewilderment over what the hell was happening. He tried to protect his face from any more blows, so I brought up the knife and slashed one of his arms. I then brought it back forward as he clenched his arm in pain and slammed it down. A slight jolt and he dropped his arms. With a gentle tug, I removed the blade, now dripping with liquid, and wiped it clean onto his jumper.

"Well that was disgusting." I whispered to myself, "He didn't even wash his hands..." I smiled.

I stood back up and retrieved my assault rifle, keeping hold of the blade in my right hand palm. Joshes room became hushed. There were quiet hisses as the room fell silent, obviously aware of the 'little scuffle' outside. I quietly walked up to the door and stood up straight. I readied the FAMAS and gave the door a good kick. It broke the locking mechanism right off and slammed open. One of the men in the tiny room fell backwards as the door flew open. The other man shot his weapon at me. Ducking, as the bullets ricocheted off the wall behind me, I returned fire, striking him in the stomach. As he fell onto the end of the bed, dropping his weapon, the man on the floor aimed some kind of small submachine gun at me.

Dropping my rifle I quickly kept hold of the knife's blade and flung it towards him, where it came to rest in his chest.

"Talk about a throwing knife." I jested, noticing the two people tied up on the bed.

After untying them both and un-gagging them, revealing them to be David and Josh, I realised that Latias wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Bloody hell!" Josh said, "All we could hear were random thumps and silenced noises!" He continued,

"I guess this is a reason why video games are bad for you..." David huffed,

"Always one to make light of a situation." I smiled, reloading the rifle and removing the knife from the body,

Josh appeared to be eyeing up the gear on my back.

"What the hell's all that on your back?" he asked,

"A gift for you both." I laughed, removing the weapons with a clatter.

Giving David the crossbow and the G11 to Josh, along with the relevant ammunition, we began to walk down the stairs, cautious for any other unwanted visitors.

"Where's Latias?" I blurted,

"She turned invisible in the garden." David said,

"She got pretty frightened over all the gunfire that they poured into the house." Josh added,

"You think she'll still be there?" I asked, walking to the back door,

"Probably. She refused to move out of the living room due to fear, until one of the glass doors got shot right behind her. Then she was the first outside." David laughed.

I simply scowled at him for making her the butt of the joke. Crunching over the broken glass and stepping out onto the garden path, I looked around for any signs of disturbance caused by her invisibility. Nothing.

"I hope she hasn't flown off again. You know what happened last time." I said, turning my head slightly.

As we got to the end of the garden, we all looked around slowly, trying to pick out any kind of sound she may be making. Suddenly a bush rustled from next door.

Pointing my gun at the shrubbery I calmly stepped closer. I stepped on a twig, which broke with a loud 'snap'.

The bush stopped rustling.

"Lati-" I stopped,

There was sudden blur from out of nowhere which knocked me to the floor and stayed on top of me.

"You've really got to stop pinning me to the floor, Latias." I smiled,

I was met by a grinning face that seemed very happy to see us all, safe. Even if we were armed with deadly weaponry and had no professional training to use such things.

Suddenly there was a loud crack from the front of the house.

"Oh for God's sake! Why is this crap happening!" I shouted, getting off the ground.

Another loud crack rang the neighbourhood, meaning things had gone 'tits up'.

"Time to move out. Now!" I said, jogging back into the house, "Pryce is outside, giving covering fire from the sounds of things. More must have shown up." I continued,

"Well let's hope this isn't the day they ruin your killstreak." Josh called from behind,

Amusing, even though we were about to embark on another shootout, outside of people's houses. Again. As I opened the door to take a quick look out, another shot rang out.

"Coast is clear, form up and follow me." I said opening the door fully.

As we sprinted across the grass, past the two bodies on the floor, we caught sight of Pryce coming back around the corner, to where we were.

"Nice to see you're still breathing."Pryce jested,

I just stared, thoughtful about the situation we were in.

"What's going on around there?" I asked,

"A van showed up, full of armoured soldiers. Not even their armour can stand the L96's power though." Pryce said, patting the side of his sniper.

"About how many are there?" I continued,

"About five or- six, including the driver." He replied, "They're over by the park where they've set up by the houses." He continued,

"Hmmm... Looks like there's no other way to go. We're gonna have to fight our way out. Mix things up a little." I said, looking at Latias who looked genuinely frightened over the ordeal.

"Let's move." Pryce said, as he began to jog back around the corner,

With no choice but to move on, we headed back the way we came, knowing that we'd hit trouble up ahead.

Keeping in line with the row of parked cars, we crouched along, slowly. I caught sight of the big, black van they showed up in, through one of the windscreens. It looked similar to an armoured van, the type you see transporting money or something. The doors on the back were wide open, as were the front doors. A plan had sprung to mind, but, it as to be kept as just a thought. For the time being that is.

"They've set up shop around the corner, and they ain't ready to close just yet.' Pryce said, amusingly,

"Well, we're here to give 'em a day off." Josh replied, heartily,

"What? Where?" David asked, poking his head above the car roof,

"Jesus Christ, man!" I hissed, pulling him back down, as a bullet flicked the wall where his head would have been.

Pryce simply stared at the hole in the wall, with a rather disdained face.

"Bloody Nora, Dave! What the hell?" I said, practically soiling myself.

"I wondered where they were exactly." He replied.

If there was ever a facepalm moment, this was it.

"Let's just follow Pryce." I mumbled, head in hands.

Pryce nodded his head and pointed towards the trees to our left. The opposite direction of my plan.

"Oi, Pryce. I got an idea." I said, grabbing hold of the jute on his suit.

Pryce turned around in curiosity and crouched next to me as I whispered my plan that would either save us or end us. During the time it took or me to convey my idea, Pryce, had a face of understanding and disbelief at the same time.

"Alright. Let's put it into action, shall we?" Pryce said, clapping his hands together, and rubbing them eagerly.

"Alright, so everyone know what they need to do?" I asked,

Everyone's response was positive and in unison.

"Well then. Let's get the hell out of here." I smiled.

David and Josh backtracked and re-appeared next to the wall in front of us. Me and Pryce exchanged weapons, unscrewing the silencer off my FAMAS first, and got sat behind the very last car. Pryce gave an 'ok' sign through the window, which David and Josh did back.

"Let's go." I said, sharply.

I smashed the window in the car with the butt of the sniper and placed the barrel on the door frame. I pulled the pin backwards, then back to its starting position. Pryce reloaded the FAMAS and prepped himself for what he was about to do.

"GO, GO, GO!" He shouted as he sprang from the front of the car, towards the van, giving himself covering fire as he went. Staring into the snipers scope, I could see, heads poking up from behind peoples garden walls. Many were wearing helmets with silvery visors on, others; nothing.

"Let's see if what Pryce said about their armour is right." I hummed.

As bullets peppered the floor around Pryce, one or two closely shaving his ghillie suit, I squeezed the trigger. There was a loud 'CRACK' as the rifle recoiled into my shoulder and I continued to look down the scope. One of the helmeted soldiers jolted backwards, as his visor acquired a large crack and added a tint of red to the mix.

"Theory proved." I smiled, pulling the chamber back again.

David flinched at the noise given off by the sniper, to which Josh laughed at, reassuring him. Pryce was nearing the door, when an explosion went off six meters away. He was thrown into the air and into the wire fence behind.

"Pryce!" I shouted, firing a shot at the soldier who'd fired a rocket launcher. He dropped like a sack of lead.

The rest of the soldiers began to take cover behind the walls again. Practical running time. I slung the L96 over my shoulder and retrieved my Colt. I got up and sprinted towards the van myself, knowing the rest were hiding and doing God knows what. Hopefully not reloading their firearms.

"Must...keep...running!" I screamed mentally, whilst staring at Pryce's limp body.

I leant backwards causing myself to slide towards the front of the van, which was going to be the safest area. I dragged Pryce's body towards me, by pulling on his leg. He was still breathing, thank God. He must have been unconscious from the blast. Atleast he was alive.

"God dammit, Pryce! Wake up!" I shouted.

It appeared as though my pleas, were in vain...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI: The Great Escape?**

There were no more signs of gunfire, for the moment. There was no way I could heave a fully grown man onto my shoulders, so, I had decided I'd have to drag him into the front of the van. I was more than sure that the windows of the armoured vehicle would be bulletproof, or similar in design, due to the situation it was in. Then again, S.P.A.S hadn't been very smart up until now had they?

Cautiously, but confidently, I shifted my head so I could see through the open doors window. I saw the barrels of weaponry poking back over the walls.

"Damn." I thought, "How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one?" I said, slumping back to the ground, staring at Pryces steady breathing. "More pot shots I guess..." I contemplated, turning my attention to the sniper resting in my lap. Pulling the pin back once more I rolled onto my stomach and edged slowly outwards. Looking down the scope, confident in the fact that I was such a small target like this, I aimed at the support group. With a few squeezes of my index finger, two more soldiers joined, what was going to be, a growing heap of bodies.

"Sure they look the biz, but, are they actually any good?" I asked myself, quietly,

Cracking off another shot I continued, "Obviously not..."

I felt something move against one of my feet.

"Pryce?" I asked, snapping my head round,

"Sure is." Groaned the pilot, rubbing his head, "What have we got here then?" He asked,

"They fired some sort of rocket at you and you took a glancing blow. I pegged it over here to drag you into cover." I replied, sharply as bullets started peppered the reinforced vehicle again.

"That would have, probably, gotten you a referral for the military cross, risking your life like that." Pryce smiled,

I simply lowered my head slightly at his comment. Sure I'd gotten these naffy commendations at school for doing something like 'actually paying attention in R.E', paraphrased of course. The military cross? A medal given to those who risk their lives in combat when they don't have to? Something I didn't expect to be aimed at me.

Hearing the window behind me crack slightly brought me back to reality.

"Well let's talk about gallantries AFTER we get out of here, shall we?" I suggested, motioning towards the driver's seat.

Pryce nodded, grabbing his M14, as well as my assault rifle, and sat next to me, waiting for the air to clear a bit. Looking over to where Josh and David were, I noticed, Latias wasn't there.

"For God's sake, not again." I muttered, angrily,

Just then a sweet little red face popped into view in front of me. It looked absolutely terrified of the situation.

"Latias! I thought you'd flown off again!" I said, hugging her round the neck.

When I let go, she cocked her head to the side quizzically. As if to say, 'do you really think I'm that stupid?'

Laughing that she'd learnt from past mistakes, I gave her another hug and turned to Josh.

"It's now or never!" I shouted, hoping that the soldiers wouldn't have heard me.

Josh stood up and peeked around the brick corner, dragged David up with him, and gestured towards us.

When we heard another ceasefire, Josh and David, shot like the wind across to where we were.

Talk about a crowd...

"Get in the van, NOW!" I hissed, urgently.

Pryce chucked his M14 towards me, whilst grabbing back his sniper,

"Not like I'm gonna leave this little beaut behind now, is it?" He grinned, as he swept around the side of the door, jumped into the driver's seat and turned the key.

Morons. They left the key in the van. Morons.

Pulling the door shut, Pryce, reversed slightly so we could get in the back without being shot up. Not quite how I wanted to die...

Throwing our weapons into the seating area and climbing in, as the bullets 'pinged' off the tempered metal chassis.

"Shove this thing into gear, and get us the hell out of here!" I shouted at Pryce, pulling back the M14's chamber.

Pryce gave no indication of acknowledgment, and instead, yanked the gearstick into 'reverse'. The heavy vehicle groaned as it slowly reversed backwards, so Pryce could pull off down the road.

"Check your guns are ready to fire. We might need to." I instructed, turning my attention to Josh and David.

As the clicks of weapons being checked sounded around me, I glanced at Latias. She was curled up next to me, breathing sharply. She raised her head and looked into my eyes, saying nothing. I could see that she longed for all of this to stop. All the pain, the suffering, the violence.

"We're going to be fine. After this is over, they'll never bother us again and we'll all be safe. Together." I whispered calmly, into her ear.

I knew very well that, despite being officially retarded, they were relentless and wouldn't stop till they got what they were after. Or killed. My preference, at the moment, was obvious.

Latias simply tilted her head, eyes soft, and edged closer to me, where she rested her head onto my lap. I began stroking her head.

Suddenly a large explosion rang out from behind, rocking the van.

"Goddammit Pryce! Get us out of here!" I echoed, making Latias jump (wishing I hadn't been so sudden)

There was a grinding noise from the gearbox and we shot forward in the direction of the estate exit. Pryce watched his rear view mirror as the soldiers slowly stepped out of their vantage points and threw their guns on the floor, no doubt cussing over our 'little theft'.

Screeching around the corner, we began the journey back to the valley with the helicopter.

"We've got to get you guys back to Vermillion. It's way too dangerous for you to stay here, especially since we've added another person to the hit list." Pryce said, hinting at David's sudden appearance in the group.

Slowing down to turn the corner, Pryce spotted a couple of ATV's and a jeep pull out of a nearby drive.

"Buckle up kids. I think we've got some friends joining us." Pryce hummed,

"Friends? What the hell is he talking about?" I thought. Probably one of the worst things I contemplated in a long time.

One of the quad bikes had the same familiar insignia and pulled up alongside us as the driver looked into the cab. He obviously wasn't expecting to see a man in a ghillie.

"Learn when to bugger off!" Pryce shouted towards the man, steering the van towards him and his passenger.

The driver quickly slammed on the brakes and steered behind the van.

"Any cover we had has just been blown!" Pryce called, as we tried to pick ourselves off the floor, after his sudden change in direction.

"Told you we'd probably need to shoot something else." I sighed, heavily, "Get ready guys. We're going loud." I said, rather ironically. It's not like what's happened previously wasn't loud...

Grasping the trigger of my assault rifle, I kicked open the back door, letting in blinding sunlight.

"Can't we just have one day without needing to run for our lives or shoot someone?" I asked myself, rhetorically.

Quickly shooting the front tyre of the ATV, before their passenger had chance to lift his weapon, causing the driver to lose control, and for the vehicle to turn, sharply. The quad obviously didn't respond well to the change in direction as it barrel rolled across the road, onto a grassy bank, throwing its occupants into the air.

The other ATV was too far away to get a steady shot at, as the van bounced about on the road, dodging the other cars. Being as careful as I possibly could to get them off our tail, trying not to snuff any innocent bystanders in the meantime.

"For goodness sake." David mused, standing up next to me.

Squeezing the trigger, a crossbow bolt shot through the air and attached itself to the passenger's helmet. The bolt childishly beeped as he attempted to rid himself of the beeping headgear.

David swiftly sat back down and watched the jeep chicane between cars as bewildered children strained their necks, watching the high speed chase plough down the road.

The passenger looked relieved as he tore off his helmet, only to find that the beeping had subsided. This was promptly followed by a small explosion, ripping apart the ATV and the people on it. The jeep behind it simply crushed the burning wreck under its tremendous weight.

"How far are we Pryce?" I called, watching the black behemoth close the gap between us,

"Shouldn't be far now! How's it going back there?" He replied,

"Crap!" I answered.

I can swear I heard Pryce laugh quietly to himself upon hearing that.

Pulling the handbrake, we slid around the bend and tore through the traffic, as we accelerated downhill. Recognising where we were, I knew we weren't far from our destination. Watching the passenger stand up in his seat, behind us, wielding some sort of ballistics weapon, ready to spray the living hell out of everyone that was inside the van. I couldn't get a clear shot with anything automatic, or even the semi-automatic M14 I was holding. It was too far away for David to get a clear shot with his crossbow, the doors were too far away to try and close and Latias was lying in the corner, weeping softly.

For once. The odds were against us. No way out of this scenario, no way of defending ourselves. No ray of hope, as far as I could see. I confirmed the situation with myself by looking out the front window, as the enemy soldier was prepping the rocket.

As the all too familiar squeal of the rocket rang in the air, time itself seemed to slow down. The plume of smoke ejected from the tail of the missile streamed through the air, like a long, thin cloud, as the tube of metal seared the air around it. The soldier who'd fired it had recoiled backwards into his seat, as the jeep backed away.

This felt like the end...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII: Tango Down...**

The hostile jeep had backed away, far from the blast radius of both the missile and the van exploding. Suddenly the missile seemed to stop just inside the rear doors. It hovered there for a few moments, smoke pluming out of the rear still, before I turned around to see Latias floating behind me, arms outstretched, eyes glowing a magnificent cobalt colour.

"She...she just...just stopped the rocket. Just like that..." I stammered, shaken with fear of my own demise.

Latias turned her attention to me, eyes still bright blue, and gave me a simple, cheeky smile. With a quick flick of her paw, the missile flipped round to face the direction it came from. She dropped her arms, allowing the metallic reaper to jettison itself back _**out**_ the van.

"Bloody nora!" Josh cooed, watching the trail of white.

The eyes of the soldiers, behind us, widened their eyes in fear. The driver nearly ripped out the lever as he pulled the handbrake and skidded sideways. The rocket slammed into the side of the vehicle before shattering into a gigantic plume of smoke, shrapnel and body. Let's just say S.P.A.S will need to spend money on more soldiers...

Latias floated beside me and placed a paw onto my shoulder, where she gave me the same cheeky smile. She then gestured for us to sit down again, where I complied to the fullest extent, rather shocked by the recent ordeal. I mean it's not every day you have a rocket nearly blow your head off, as well as every other limb, before turning around and flying back to where it came from, is it?

Latias lay her head onto my shoulder, and purred softly. I placed my hand next to her face and gently caressed her exposed cheek, causing her to purr louder...

"Sorry to break up you two lovebirds but I just thought I'd let you know, we're actually here." Pryce interrupted, suddenly.

Latias raised her head and looked me into the eyes. They seemed to glisten brightly to me, very much in the same way water does on a sunny day. I tore myself away from her gaze and stood up. She followed, briskly.

"Alright, everybody onboard. We're heading back to Vermillion and there's no two ways about it." Pryce instructed, firmly, as he climbed into the pilots seat.

"I doubt we'd want to come back after going anyway..." I muttered under my breath.

Slinging the weapon inside the seating area, and letting Latias in first, I climbed aboard and sat down, clumsily. Latias must have been waiting for me to sit down first because as soon as I did, she sat next to me...

I could tell she kept staring at me with her golden eyes, even when I was making conversation to David and Josh about how bad the day's been so far.

"Honest to god, I hope she's not in her heat..." I thought, as the chopper lifted, smoothly, off the ground.

Every now and again I gave her a passing glance, and a smile, just to show I acknowledged that she was actually there, before continuing my conversation, knowing that she'd continue to stare. It's not like it made me uncomfortable or anything, it's just it felt like she wanted me for some reason or another, though I wasn't quite sure what. I didn't really think about it that much to be honest.

"Alright guys, we're over the sea now and we're about to pass over to 'the other side'." Pryce laughed,

"I hope he means we're off to Kanto." David said.

Watching the waves outside the windows, I wondered how we managed to arrive back at my house without us even realising we'd gone from somewhere completely different. Not even a slight lurch in the stomach. Curious, I continued to look outside, determined to see how it was done.

The waves seemed so calm, so peaceful way out here. That was before a slight purple tinge came around, before quickly subsiding. Still watching the waves, I noticed a school of very strange fish under the water. I couldn't tell what they were from where I was, because they were too far down. Noticing the water had gotten a little rougher all of a sudden, I watched the fish surface. To my dismay, I found out that the school of fish were in fact a large group of 'Feebas', that being a rather, weak, ugly fish Pokémon.

"What the hell? We're back here again..." I said, racking my brain,

"There's not much to the shift between here and your perception of Earth." Pryce called, looking back to us.

Perception of Earth? What the hell did he mean 'perception'?

"Perception?" I asked, vacantly,

"Well you see, your perception of Earth is where you all have 'normal' creatures, those being what you call cats, dogs, birds, etcetera. Over here we've got what's known as Pokémon." Pryce replied, heading for land,

"That doesn't really help as I can see that already." I said, scratching my head, not able to get my head around the situation,

"Basically, where we are is Earth. Just different to the one you live in. It just so happens that there was absolutely no travel between the two 'Earths' until little over a year ago. That also happens to be, roughly, the same time your 'girlfriend' ended up over there, with you." Pryce added,

"So you're saying that it's Latias who's allowed people to travel between the Pokémon Earth and our Earth?" I asked,

"In a way, yes. That's why we've been keeping an eye on both you and Latias." He continued,

Atleast I now knew why they were watching me 'closely'. It's because they suspected that Latias had somehow ripped open some sort of portal, or something, to our Earth and the Pokémon version. And as simple as it may sound, it still made my head spin.

As we flew over land, and over the outskirts of Vermillion, a high pitched beeping noise rang through the helicopter's hull.

"Shi-" Pryce went to say,

Suddenly a loud hiss and an explosion, followed by the sound of tearing metal filled the air.

"We're going down!" Pryce shouted, as we plummeted down to the 'other Earth'.

As I clung to the hand rails, by the seats (as did everyone else), I could see tall skyscrapers come into view, as we got closer and closer before everything shattered and went black...

There was a dull groan around me. Searing heat could be felt. I could feel a thick, viscous fluid touching my bare skin as it seeped away somewhere. Trying to open my eyes, I could see the surrounding area, even if it was blurry. The seating area we were sitting in seemed to be tilted to one side. I thought it was just the way I had gotten up. Problem was, it wasn't me. The helicopter had crashed into the ground, wrecking it, as well as everything inside it. I looked at my hands and arms, only to see them covered in blood and various cuts. I stumbled over to the pilot's seat and grabbed hold of the burnt, ripped fabric. I leant in and saw Pryce. Except... except he was leaning forward, face on the controls. I gently pulled his body backwards to find blood trailing from his nose and mouth, as well as a blank expression plastered on his stained face.

"Crap. Pryce is..." I swallowed hard,"Dead..." My heart sank, knowing that the one who'd helped us survive for so long had died trying to get us to safety. I etched it into my own mind that I'd never forget all he did for me. Me and my friends. The only thing I could do was to leave him, holding back tears of pain, and head for the hatch, which was open to the sky. Grabbing the M14 and FAMAS, I heaved myself out of the crashed cobra and over the edge of the foot rail, not being particularly careful about the surrounding area. Looking around I noticed that there was no one around. Odd. I also noticed that there were cars that had either crashed into each other, or into the residing buildings.

"What the bloody hell happened here?" I asked myself, as though crashing a helicopter into the ground didn't just happen.

Looking over to a pair of cars that'd crashed into each other, in the middle of the road, I saw David and Josh, hiding.

"What the hell are you doing behind burning cars?" I asked, curious as to why they seemed to be metaphorically soiling themselves,

"Sniper!" Josh hissed,

"Sniper?" I asked again, wondering what the fudge he was on about,

Just then a bullet, quite literally, pierced through the mangled shell of the helicopter. Let me tell you now, I got behind those bust up cars like no one's business. I hadn't been killed yet, and wasn't about to let that go just yet.

"Where the fu-" I was cut off as another bullet pierced the floor nearby, "Where the hell did he come from?" I shouted, pulling the chamber back.

"How the hell should we know?" Josh shouted back,

Suddenly, APC's, came hurtling down the deserted roads and bounced up the kerbs onto the thick grass. Shredding the dirt as they slammed on the brakes, hard, and came to rest, parallel.

"Things just keep getting better and better..." I sighed,

Doors slammed, footsteps crunched guns loading. This. Was going to be a bloodbath.

"All we can do is hold out. These vehicles should keep us covered from their weapons, giving us some advantage over them. However they'll probably be..." I stopped as another .50cal smashed the tarmac, "...probably be pretty damn durable and heavily armed." I finished, not seemingly disturbed by the spray of black dust from the floor peppering my face.

"Should?" David and Josh chorused,

Ignoring them, I looked around.

"Where's Latias?" I asked, spontaneously,

"You and that bloody dragon!" Josh hissed,

"That '_bloody dragon_' is what's keeping my clinging to hope at the moment, and if you can't appreciate that then I'd suggest you shut the hell up." I spat back.

Josh was dumbfounded. He seemed to listen to my advice though. Then again I don't reckon he thought for one minute I'd let him slag her off in front of me without having a 7.62 jammed up his ass.

My attention was turned to David, who was timidly fiddling around with his crossbow.

"Dave? That relic ain't gonna do much out here." I said sliding the FAMAS towards him, "You need something instant." I smiled,

David slung the crossbow over his back and retrieved the weapon, nodding in confirmation.

"So..." another bullet pinged the wrecked chassis as orders were being given out from a distance away, "...anyone want to tell me where she is?" I asked again, firmly,

"We last saw her when you were together, in the helicopter. Before it hit the floor, me and Josh got flung out onto the road, escaping anything serious. Where's Pryce." David replied,

"...Dead..." I mumbled, letting a tear form in the corner of my tightly shut eyes. "Let's not forget him but let's not dwell on him." I said wiping away the droplet, "If anything he'd want us to do all that we can to get the hell away from here, unscathed." I continued.

With that I pulled the chamber back on the M14, stood up, completely disregarding the sniper, and shouted "Die you bastards!" before squeezing the trigger and killing a soldier outright, as more tears dripped from my eyes.

"Jesus Christ!" David blasphemed, yanking me onto the floor again.

I wept quietly, leaning against the overturned car, as enemy voices cooed over their dead comrade, and issued orders of 'kill them all'.

"Come on man. We'll get out of here. We just gotta hang tight!" Josh said,

Suddenly, there was a loud scream, coming from where the sniper was shooting from. That was all it took for the enemy to take their attention off of us.

It's also what gave me the opportunity to shoot another one of the heartless gits, before being sprayed mercilessly at again.

"For God's sake! Stay down!" Josh hissed,

"I wonder what caused that guy to scream..." David thought out loud,

What did cause that guy to scream, and so apparently, involuntarily fall out of their window?

"OPEN FIRE, OPEN FIRE!" The soldier's CO shouted, followed by a hail of gunfire towards the buildings in the opposite direction.

"Josh... where. Is. Latias?" I asked again, calmly

"...she...i..." Josh stuttered, as I coldly stared him in the eyes.

"We... we don't know..." David chirped in, saving Josh from my cold glare, "I'm sure she's alright, though." He continued,

Loud gunfire rattled through the air as I slumped against the battered remains of the vehicle we were cowering behind; fresh blood splatters spraying the floor next to the wheel.

As I picked the combat knife, that Pryce gave me earlier, up; I watched as an enemy soldier came under fire, as he backed towards our position. Tripping backwards over a piece of damaged helicopter, I took as much pleasure as I possibly could in swiftly inserting the whole blade into his sternum, resulting in him dropping his weapon and uttering garbled words at me, before his head dropped to one side; mouth dripping blood.

As bullets peppered both bodies and buildings alike, the remaining soldiers got back into their APC's and escaped, leaving the devastation behind. Removing the knife, wiping the liquid onto my jeans, I inserted it into my pocket; handle out. I could hear footsteps emanating from behind the vehicle we were behind, getting closer and closer...

Josh and David inserted new magazines into the chambers as I pulled back the charging pin. Gesturing for the other two to stand up, with me, on the mark of '3'. Mouthing the numbers, we stood up, aimed down sight at the approaching target to find that it was... Lieutenant Surge.

Making a rather sudden 'stand down' gesture, I approached Surge, face to face.

"Looks like you've caused quite a disturbance, here in downtown Saffron." He said, letting his rifle hang by his side.

"Careful Surge... we might have taken you down by mistake..." I hummed, switching my weapon to safety.

Surge just smiled before retrieving his walkie-talkie and saying, "This is Charlie 2-0, area secure, I repeat, area secure. Form up on my position."

Soon, a small squad of black armoured soldiers poured out of the alley next to the snipers building, triggering the idea that they'd pushed him out the window.

"I'm gonna be blunt with you boys. SPAS are bearing down on you, and your friends, and will most likely do so till they get what they want... or kill you. Back at HQ we've talked over the options, and I'm sorry to say, it's far too dangerous for you to go back home." Surge said, slinging his gun over his shoulder.

"...meaning...?" Josh asked, standing next to me,

"Meaning that you can either head back to your world and be caught, tortured and killed or you can stay in this one and make it much harder for 'em to find you all, and make it much easier for us to protect you." He replied, sternly.

"Well shit... where do you expect us to stay?" I said, unable to comprehend leaving my family behind.

"In the Vermillion barracks... at least for a while. Safest place for you, till they cut back on their attempts anyway. After that... you'll be able to do whatever you want; you'll be older by then." Surge stated,

"Older? How long do you expect us to live here?" I asked, getting pretty distressed,

"All I can say is; till they hold up on their attempts. That's as good as It can get." He replied, solemnly. "Come on, we'd better go. We'll honour Pryce when it's safer." Surge said, walking away,

"How'd he know Pryce was killed...?" I thought, as I followed the squad, round the corner of a building,

"Lucas... before we continue... there's just one thing you need to know." The Lieutenant said, quietly.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse...

Surge opened up the back his armoured van revealing a bloodied heap of cloth, with something underneath it.

"Now Lucas... I'm sorry for what you're about to see... but it's important..." he continued, taking hold of part of the sheet.

My stomach began to feel like it was caving on itself, I guessed what the heap was, but didn't want to see if I was right...

"... I really am sorry."

Removing the cloth, my greatest fears were realised. Lying before me, in a bloodied, furry, load was the one I'd cherished and swore to protect for so long. Lying before me, completely lifeless, covered in gashes and a large wound in its neck, was my Latias. Shot straight through the throat by the enemy whilst the rest of our group were unconscious.

"She was trying to find us, to help you. Prior to this, we already noticed you were inbound, so we were already on our way. Unfortunately so did the enemy. As Latias approached us, covered in injuries from the crash, a sniper took aim and... well...this." Surge said, quietly,

Dropping my weapon to the floor with a loud clatter, I ran over to her body and hugged her, despite the amount of blood, still dripping. I wept loudly into her fur, crying about how I'd broken my promise to look after her...to keep her safe.

"Get in men; we need to get out of here..." Surge said, climbing into the driver's seat,

Josh and David got into the back of the van, with the squad, and shut the door behind them, quashing any internal noise...

The love is lost and the light is diminishing; all we can do is cower behind those bigger than us...


End file.
